


Not Anymore

by BattlingBard



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Abuse, Additional Warnings Apply, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anti-Hero, Character Death, DCEU references, Dark Kara Danvers, Drama, F/F, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Kara never dies, Lena never dies, Slow Burn, Soulmates, Violence, You Have Been Warned, people die, smallville references, time shifts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-03-03 12:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13341039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BattlingBard/pseuds/BattlingBard
Summary: "Wait." Lena pushes herself to her feet, watching closely as the hooded woman slowly looks over her shoulder at her. Without breaking eye contact with her, Lena reaches a hand into her pocket. When she feels the object, still lit up in her hand, she lowers her eyes to look at it one last time. "This- Is this yours?"Kara's gaze drops to Lena's extended hand. Her jaw clenches, but she makes no other movements. "Not anymore." Her voice doesn't betray her emotions. Without turning to completely face Lena, Kara reaches her own hand into her pocket while keeping her eyes on the familiar light in Lena's hand.The slightest gasp falls from Lena's lips when she sees what the woman pulls out of her pocket. She watches in stunned silence as Kara slowly extends her hand toward her. As the two identical objects touch, both lights die. Finally, the blonde woman meets her eyes again. Before Lena can open her mouth, the stranger speaks."Keep it."Whether or not there was a Superman, they were bound to have their paths cross. Aliens still exist, and Kara still lands on Earth the same day. This is how they find each other.





	1. Fallen

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't going to post this until I had at least half of the story complete, but I have chosen to go ahead with it now.
> 
> Images made for this story will be embedded in the story.
> 
> It will likely be around 15 chapters, but all future chapters will be longer than this one.

**_September 22nd, 2004_ **

 

The briefest streak of light flashes across the sky over Smallville, Kansas. It goes unnoticed in the mix of colors highlighting the sunrise over the horizon.

Kara Zor-El wakes as her pod crashes to the ground. Through the glass, her eyes absorb the unfamiliar terrain. Tall plants of some kind surround her for as far as she can see. As her eyes become adjusted, a sense of panic slowly takes root in her stomach. Quickly taking to the control panel, she unlocks the door, allowing the pod to open and expose her to the air of Earth, her new home.

Shakily, she climbs out of the pod, using her hands to steady herself when her legs threaten to give out from under her. As the warmth of this bright, yellow sun shines on her back, she feels the discomfort of being in one position for so long begin to fade. Looking around, she finds that she is in a slight hole made by her less than graceful landing. Kara hops out of the hole to see that she is in a small clearing that appears to have been made by the various rocks that look like they crashed into the ground some time ago - if the overgrowth is any indicator. Walking around to the other side of her pod, she falters when she sees a pod identical to hers.

After her brief pause, she runs to the pod, knowing her baby cousin to be in there.

“ _Kal-El!_ ” She cries out in her native tongue as her hands reach for the pod.

Several creatures unknown to her are disturbed by her presence at the pod. She waves them off as she attempts to look inside the pod through the layer of dirt covering the glass. Frantically, she searches for a grip to get the pod open. 

[ Only a brief moment of surprise courses through her when her fingers dent the metal of the pod before she manages to pull it open ](https://paracosm-e.tumblr.com/post/166533336594/this-drawing-is-for-a-story-of-supergirl-in-which) . A piercing scream that sends nearby wildlife scattering forces its way out of her small body. When a powerful smell hits her in one wave, she bends over to empty the contents of her stomach onto the ground. She staggers over to her own pod, and a shaking hand reaches out to steady herself. Suddenly drained of energy, she stumbles back into her pod.

“ _ I have failed. _ ” 

Exhaustion from crying finally forces her eyes to shut again.

* * *

Two days pass before she can bare to move.

The only motivation she can find to climb out of her pod is to allow her cousin to rejoin their family in Rao’s light. They were meant to be the last two surviving Kryptonians.

“ _ Not anymore, _ ” she whispers to herself before taking brave steps to the coffin that was once a chance for survival. Knowing her uncle equipped Kal-El’s pod with technology from their… from her home, she rips off one of her sleeves before tying it around her mouth and nose. With a deep breath, she’s prepared as she can be to face that… to face him again.

“ _ Please forgive me, Kal-El. _ ”

She tugs the red blanket over her cousin’s face, covering his eyes in one last effort to protect him from what she must do next.

After a few settling breaths, she reaches for the box on the floor of the pod, removing everything Jor-El left to aide Kal-El’s upbringing on a foreign planet. 

Nothing was left in her pod for her.

Focusing on her cousin first, she places everything in her own pod before closing it, resolving to investigate the contents later.

With slow, precise steps, she forces herself back to Kal-El’s side. Biting her lip, she reaches in as she enters a program on the control panel. Unable to look at him again, she keeps her eyes closed as she reaches up to grip the lid of the pod. With far more emotional effort than physical, she pulls it down until she hears the click of it locking in place. Her hands remain on the pod as her breaths become shallow.

She inhales a deep, shaky breath before beginning to speak for the third time in as many days.

“ _You have been the sun of our lives. Our prayers will be the sun that lights your way on the journey home._ ” She has to swallow several times before her throat loosens enough to speak again. “ _We will remember you in every dawn..._ ” Her body shakes as she attempts to hold back the sobs threatening to overtake her, but she cannot stop the tears tracking down her face. “ _... and await the night we join you in the sky._ _Rao’s will be done._ ” 

The pod begins to come to life below her small hands. She presses her palms against the metal surface as she feels the pod begin to lift off of the ground. As it raises higher, her hands slide further down until the pod is no longer within reach of her youthful size. Her hands fall heavily to her sides as she watches the pod fade into the stars above.

“ _ Tell my mother that I am sorry. _ ”

With great effort, she keeps herself from falling to the ground. Instead, she turns to her pod that holds everything left of her family, her people, and her planet. She places both palms against the metal of the pod. When she presses her hands forward to help center herself, she pod is moved several feet away, causing her to stumble forward. Only just managing to keep herself from falling to the ground, she looks down at her hands with wide eyes.

Tilting her head in curiosity, she walks back up to her pod to give it a slight push. It moves easily. Not caring enough to question her sudden strength, she opts to use it to her advantage.

* * *

Kara settles her pod near the wall of the small cave, residing herself to spend her mourning period here, but hoping she will be joining her family before the mourning period is over.

“ _ How can I live on with no purpose or people? _ ”

When she hears no response from the empty cave, she settles onto the pile of plant life she collected. Her eyes prove to be too heavy for her newfound strength, and she soon drifts off into sleep.

Kara Zor-El lives past the mourning period. 

With her knowledge of Kryptonian sciences, she quickly deduces that her biology has been altered somehow. Although she has had next to nothing to drink and less to eat, she only feels lethargic rather than ill. Nothing, not even the large stones of the cave, can pierce her skin. With only her pinky, she can turn a boulder into dust.

She’s destined to carry the burden of her lost planet forever.

Or until she forgets.

For the previous five days, she has attempted to open her pod and look through the box resting on the seat. Every time she walks up to her pod, she sees a different person she has lost looking back at her.

She has yet to try today.

“ _ There may be something important in there, Kara, _ ” she whispers as she stands to approach the pod. 

As she takes the first step, a piercing scream reaches her ears. She winces and covers her ear with her hands for a moment. Her eyes go wide when she realizes the scream is coming from a young girl.

Without a second’s thought, she sprints out of the cage at an alarming speed. She looks around in suspicion as she contemplates how she heard something from so far away. The screaming stops just before she can reach it. Skidding to a halt, her head turns in all directions before she hears laughter apparently coming from the same girl. She begins walking toward the source of the laughter, but slows when she hears another voice laughing. 

Cautiously, she moves closer, staying behind the larger plants to remain out of sight.

“It’s not that funny.” An older boy’s voice reaches Kara’s ears just before she sees them from her hiding spot.

“It exploded! And you almost lost your hair!”

The girl appears younger than Kara. She watches the two of them interact. The boy is actually a young man by Kara’s estimate. She tries to understand what they are saying. From the short observation, she learns that the big plants are trees, and these beings do not have her speed or strength.

The young man pulls the girl into a hug, and they both smile and laugh. With a tightening in her chest, Kara turns to leave just as the first tears begin to fall. 

Before she can get too far, something runs up behind her and hits her back. She gasps and jumps several feet into the air, surprising herself and the creature watching her. The creature stares at her with its tongue protruding from its mouth. She stares back at the four-legged creature that appears to be covered in white hair. Although it has teeth clearly meant for tearing through meat, it does not appear to want to harm her.

It almost seems as though it wishes to be friends.

“ _ Are the people of this planet friends with the animals? _ ”

The white animal must like her voice because it rushes up to her, but doesn’t jump onto her this time. It pushes its face into her stomach, causing Kara to step back out of reach again. A strange, almost disappointed sound escapes it. Again, it walks up to her, standing in front of her with its four legs.

“ _ What am I supposed to do with you? _ ”

Kara notices the tail for the first time as it begins to move back and forth rapidly. She narrows her eyes as she thinks the creature may even be smiling.

“ _ You’re an odd creature. _ ”

The creature begins breathing noisily. The barest hint of a smile teases at the corners of Kara’s lips. 

“ _ Do you understand me? _ ”

It takes a few steps closer. With the knowledge that her skin is indestructible as far as she’s seen, she begins to reach a hand out toward the round head. She smiles a little more when the tail begins moving faster.

Just as she’s about to touch it, another voice cuts into her newly sensitive hearing. Instantly, the animal turns toward the voice and begins running.

Curious, Kara follows it at a discreet distance. Hiding behind a tree, she watches the animal run into an area that has items that don’t match the plant life she has seen there. Something blue and cloth-like is a small distance from a circle of rocks with parts of a tree in it. The animal rushes to a girl that looks close to Kara’s age. She holds her breath in fear of the animal attacking the girl, but the girl is only smiling and laughing as the animal jumps repeatedly on her. The girl is holding a small piece of tree in one hand. When she starts waving it, the white creature makes a deep sound several time, and the girl only laughs. 

“ _ She’s not afraid of it. _ ”  [ Kara watches the girl for a few moments and discovers that they are playing together. ](https://paracosm-e.tumblr.com/post/166533507854/another-drawing-for-the-story)

Kara is startled by other voices, but can’t see any people apart from the girl. A moment later, she sees two adults coming out of the blue structure. 

“ _ That is not a strong home structure. _ ” She listens to what must be the girl’s parents talk to her. The mother takes some objects in her hands to the circle of rocks. Several moments later, a fire forms. “ _ So they have fire here, too. _ ” Kara watches the father and daughter bring items toward the fire. As the sun begins its descent, Kara settles into a comfortable position in the tree to watch these Earth people, learning a few more words before she falls asleep.

Kara is awoken by screaming in the bare light of the morning. She jumps out of the tree without hesitation, heading straight for the screaming when her feet touch the ground. Seconds later, she sees a boy running and screaming. 

When the boy looks over his shoulder, she follows his line of sight to see a different, larger creature than the one from last night. This one runs differently than the other one, but has sharp teeth and looks angry. It’s also far larger than her, and the boy doesn’t seem like he’s playing. With a quick burst of speed, Kara runs straight toward the brown creature, tucking her head and slamming her shoulder into its side. 

The angry animal is sent hurtling toward a tree a significant distance away, while Kara merely stands and watches without the slightest strain to her breathing. The tree bends with the weight of the large creature, but the creature seems to have learned its lesson because it runs away when it’s able to stand again.

Kara turns her head to see the boy still running. Nervously looking around, she makes a hasty decision. “Hey!” She tries out one of the words that the people used to get each other’s attention last night. 

The boy doesn’t hear her.

She runs a little closer behind him and shouts again before hiding behind a tree. The boy stumbles to a stop, looking around in fear and confusion. 

Kara follows the boy.

When Kara hears shouting voices, the boy shouts and begins running toward the source of the voices. Kara watches him rush toward two men that look scared and worried. They both take him into their arms.

Hiding in another tree, Kara listens to the boy talk to the two people she believes to be his parents. These people don’t live in the weak structure the other people do. While she learns new words in this Earth language, she watches the family put items that are outside into their home that stands on circles.

“Bear.” Kara lets the new word form in her mouth as she remembers the ease with which she hit the big creature they call a bear.

One of the fathers never lets the son get away from his side. To Kara’s shock, the structure begins moving when they are all inside. After a moment of worry, Kara determines that it is a vehicle. 

“ _ Why are their vehicles stronger than their homes? _ ” Kara accepts that she has more to learn than she ever thought. 

After exploring the area they left, she finds a box they must have left behind by accident. Looking around to ensure they haven’t come back, she sits on the ground to explore its contents. It’s thin and colorful. 

“ _ Is everything they make weak, or am I just that strong now? _ ” 

She uses her nail to slide her finger under what appears to be the opening, since one piece of the material is overlapping another. The top piece flips up with a tearing sound, causing Kara to wince slightly. Tilting her head down, she peeks inside of the box. There are multiple of the same item. She looks at the words on the box, trying to decipher if any of the letters are similar to Kryptonian. 

“ _ Of course it wouldn’t be close at all. Our planets come from different sectors. _ ”

Carefully, she reaches a hand inside the box to pull out one of the objects that fit into her hand. She lays it in her palm to inspect it. The appearance is similar to that of the box. The letters and colors are the same. There is the same a drawing of a person. 

“ _ What is this? _ ”

As she runs her fingers over it, she comes to the conclusion that this is another encasing, and something is inside. She looks at a piece on one side that is protruding from the rest of the package. Curiosity getting the better of her, she decides to pull it with one hand while the other hand holds the rest. 

It rips open, and something brown falls into her lap, releasing a pleasant smell. She stares at the square for a stunned moment before her hand gingerly picks it up from her lap. 

“ _ Is this Earth food? _ ”

She scans the area around her again before turning her attention back to what she is hoping is food.

“ _ What’s the worst that can happen? _ ”

With a shrug, she brings it to her mouth to take a tentative bite. Her eyebrows raise in appreciation when the bite falls to her tongue. As she chews, a hesitant smile grows on her lips. When she swallows, the smile widens before she takes another bite.

She puts the empty encasing into the box when she finishes before standing to leave. Without much conscious thought, she finds herself walking back toward the other family.

“ _ Does their home turn into a vehicle? _ ”

Climbing the tree with the box of Earth food under her arm is a much easier task than she thought it would be. She settles back into the spot she slept in last night to watch and listen. Throughout the day, she eats several more of the squares of food while learning more of the Earth language. 

She stays there until she falls asleep in a better mood than any of her previous days on Earth.

The brightness of the sun stirs Kara into wakefulness. For a blissful moment, she stretches her arms, expecting to feel the softness of her sheets. When her hand makes a hole in a hard surface, her eyes shoot open to take in her surroundings. Her heart races until her mind reminds her of the past three weeks.

No longer interested in studying the local culture, she steps out of the tree and begins walking back to her cave at a contemplative pace.

The sun is high in the sky when she finds her cave. The opening is blocked by a large pile of rocks. Her shoulders slump further than they already were, and she sets her box of food to the side. In an unhurried pace fueled by emotional exhaustion and having no plans, Kara removes the rocks without breaking a sweat. 

She gathers her box and walks inside her cave when the rocks are cleared. Her feet shuffle and kick small rocks on the ground as the makes her way to the place she laid for two weeks straight. 

Before getting to the pile of greenery, she freezes in the middle of the cave. Something catches her attention out of the corner of her eye. Slowly, she turns her head to the left. A strangled gasp escapes her lips, and the box falls from her suddenly limp arms.

Her pod is gone.

She doesn’t move for an entire minute. Finally, she blinks and falls to her knees with a scream that reverberates around the entire cave. A strange sensation pulses through the veins in her forehead. Beyond her control, her eyes shoot open, and her vision fills with a red tint.

Her fists slam into the rocky ground at her sides, thrusting into the stone as if it were water. 

“ _ That was all I had left of them! _ ” 

A nearby boulder finds its way into her hand, and she throws it into the wall where her pod used to be. Standing up, she is standing in front of the wall in under a second, slamming her fist into the dark stone. 

“ _ I did not ask for this! _ ”

Picking up one of the large rocks fallen from her strike, she hurls it at the corner where she used to sleep. Black dust covers the pile of leaves and branches. 

“ _ Oh Rao.”  _ Her voice is a broken whisper.

When the red no longer tints her vision, she can barely see anything through the dust and smoke in the air.

* * *

 

**_May 25th, 2010_ **

 

“It’s just wonderful having you here now, Lena.” Lex smiles charmingly at his little sister as they walk down a hallway in LuthorCorp. 

Lena smiles back at him before turning back to look at their surroundings. “It feels like much longer than two years since I left for Massachusetts.”

“I’ve missed you.” He throws an arm over Lena’s shoulders, pulling her closer to him. “But look at you, now… Fresh out of MIT at 17 and ready to join the family business.”

Lena’s smile is tight-lipped, but genuine. “I am looking forward to running some of my ideas by you.”

Lex hums in acknowledgement and turns them down another hallway, toward a door. “All in due time, Lena. First…” He removes his arm from her shoulders when they stop outside of the door, so he can use the retina scanner. “I have something to show you.” Grabbing the handle, he holds the door open for Lena to precede him.

Tilting her head slightly, Lena enters the room. She stops several steps inside of the room. “What is this?”

His voice comes from just behind her. “Alien technology.”

Lena whirls around and takes a few steps back from Lex to see him better. “Where did it come from?” She glances at the glowing rocks behind a glass.

Lex walks past her toward something under a sheet. “A few years ago… back in Smallville.” He places a hand on the sheet and smiles at Lena. “Do you remember doing experiments out in the woods?”

“I do.” Lena keeps an eye on her brother’s hand.

With a sly grin, Lex grips the sheet. “One fall, not too far from where we would go, I came upon this.” He removes the sheet with a flourish to reveal an alien pod. Lena clenches her jaw, but remains silent. “You were young when it happened, but back when I was a teenager, there was a meteor shower.” His eyes go unseeing for a moment as his hand rests on the pod. “Many… odd things began to happen after that.”

“The meteor infected.” Lena raises her guard in her voice.

Lex’s grin grows. “That’s exactly right, Lena.” He pushes off of the pod and walks in front of the wall of shelves holding various items. Lena watches his every movement. “I spent countless hours scouring those woods, collecting anything out of the ordinary… anything not human.” Stopping across the room from Lena, he looks over his shoulder at her. “Six years ago, I was following a signal I received. I almost didn’t go out that morning.” He glances at a green shard, touching his fingers to the glass covering it. “Imagine my surprise when I see a boy being chased by a bear. What a fool. I was sure he was dead.” He continues walking along his collection. “Just when the bear was about to get his breakfast, there’s a blur, and then the bear is being thrown into a tree.” Lex fully face Lena, placing his hands behind his back. “The boy didn’t see her…” He takes a step closer to Lena. “But I did.”

“See who?” Lena keeps her tone calm.

“A girl.” He smiles without warmth. “She could not have been much older than you at the time. She threw that bear as if he was nothing.”

Lena recognizes Lex’s tone as a reflection of his obsession with the meteor infected all of those years ago.

“I’ve been looking for her ever since.”

“What does this have to do with me, Lex? I’m here to help people.”

Lex’s smile softens. “So am I, Lena. All I ever wanted to do in Smallville was to help cure my friends that were infected.”

Lena doesn’t say anything.

“All this,” he gestures to the room around him, “could be the reason for what happened to those people.” His voice turns compassionate. “The cure could be somewhere in here.”

It’s silent for a moment. Lena shakes her head minutely. “I want nothing to do with metahumans. That’s not what I came here for.”

Lex tilts his head with an understanding smile. “I respect that, Lena. Of course, you’re here to head our civil and environmental engineering labs.”

A small, relieved smile stretches across Lena’s face. “Thank you, Lex.”

“Shall we move on to the fun part of the tour?” He smiles widely. “You’re going to love your lab.”

* * *

“Hey, Lena.”

Lena glances up from her computer to give her lab technician a questioning gaze.

“I’m heading out for lunch. Can I bring back anything for you?”

“Oh, no.” She shakes her head - not having realized the morning has flown past her. “Thank you for the offer.”

“Of course.” A nervous smile is thrown at Lena before she is left alone.

With a sigh, Lena sits back on her stool, pushing her glasses to the top of her head and rubbing her eyes. She’s on her second month working at LuthorCorp and has yet to get to really begin any of her projects. 

“Remind me why I said ‘no’ to an assistant,” she mutters to herself.

“I’m afraid I wouldn’t know, love.”

Lena jumps off her stool, whirling around to face the source of the deep voice. “Who are you?” She staggers back against the table when she sees a strange man with a feral smile.

“We just stopped by with a message.”

With wide eyes, Lena lunges for her phone on the other side of the table.

“Ah-ah.” Two other strange men appear behind that man as he shoots at her phone with a gun pulled from under his shirt. “You’re all alone.”

Lena slowly walks backward around the table, trying to put it between her and the men blocking the main exit. Her eyes dart toward another door 30 feet away from her. 

“You really think that will work for you?” The other two men laugh at her.

“What do you want?” Lena’s heavy breathing betrays her fear.

“Isn’t it obvious, love?” He aims the gun at her head.

Lena raises her chin in defiance. “This won’t end well for you.”

“Sure it will.” The man shrugs.

A blinding light fills the room. Lena ducks under her table at the sound of fighting. When the commotion settles, Lena is still hiding.

“Lena?”

Hearing Lex’s voice, Lena cautiously moves out from beneath the table. “Lex?” She grips the edge of the desk to help her stand.

“It’s safe now, Lena.” Lex offers her a hand, which she slowly takes.

She looks toward where the men were standing moments ago to find them unconscious on the floor. “ What -”

“I took care of it.” He lifts a weapon in his hand. “Just something I’ve been working on.” Several officers of security barge into the room. “Take care of this,” he tells one of them before looking back at Lena. “Come with me.”

Lena nods and allows him to lead her out of the lab with a hand on her elbow. She doesn’t speak until they are in her officer. “Has that - Does that happen often?” 

Lex sighs, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of Lena’s desk. “I had hoped it wouldn’t happen to you.” He rubs a hand over his head.

Pacing across her office, Lena fidgets with her hands. “They… just came in. I didn’t recognize any of them. Who were they?” She stops and looks directly into her brother’s eyes. “Were they infected?” She pictures their odd features.

Shaking his head with a concerned frown, Lex takes a deep breath. “No, Lena, they weren’t.”

Lena just looks at him.

He stands to speak directly to Lena. “You were attacked by aliens.” His gaze turns apologetic. “I’m so sorry that happened, Lena. I would never want anyone to hurt you.” He steps closer to stand in front of her. “They’re… dangerous. We’ve had a few attacks, but have managed to keep them underwraps. I don’t know why they are doing this. The only explanation I have is that they are threatened by our advancements. They want to remain more powerful than us.” He places his hands on Lena’s shoulders. “I know you don’t want to get involved with my research into alien technology, but I will understand if you wish to find an endeavor outside of LuthorCorp.” Lena just watches him speak. “While nothing makes me happier than having my little sister working with me, I would write a recommendation for you to work elsewhere if you so choose.” He smiles. “I will always be your big brother, Lena. Don’t forget that. We’re family.” With a sympathetic smile, he releases her shoulders and steps back from Lena. “I’ll go -”

“I’ll do it.” 

“What?” Lex’s voice holds a glimmer of hope.

“I’ll help with your research.”

“Lena, are you sure?”

She nods. “Any technology that allows other beings to travel to us must have applications that will do good.”

“I hoped you would say that.” Lex smiles widely.

“Where do we start?”

* * *

 

**_November 2004_ **

 

Kara pulls her blanket closer around her body as the morning sun pushes past her senses. After a few minutes of failing to go back to sleep, she opens her eyes. The sunlight is streaming through the branches just over her head. She rubs the sleep out of her eyes with a yawn. Maneuvering into a sitting position, she reaches for her backpack hanging on a branch next to her head. Checking her stash of stolen snacks, she opts to go to the water. After tightly rolling her blanket and placing it into her bag, she jumps out of the tree. As she walks to the nearby body of water, she finds a stick that meets her liking. She crawls through greenery until she reaches the spot she carved out in the middle of a group of plants.

At the water’s edge, she drops her bag to the ground and sits beside it. Several weeks ago, she watched people use sticks to catch creatures from the water. She snuck into their camp that first night. One of the items she took was wire wrapped around a circle. The people spoke at length about the wire and the fish. It took a few attempts, but she learned how to make her own fish catcher. 

She shoves the end of the stick into the dirt and settles down to wait. Just as she reaches a half asleep state, she hears splashing. Looking at the water, she searches for the source from her hidden spot. A girl close to Kara’s age is splashing along the edge of the water adjacent to Kara’s fishing area.

The girl’s laughter brings a smile to Kara’s face as she pokes her head out farther to watch.

Kara’s stick begins to shake, so she returns her attention to bringing in her breakfast. With one tug, a plump fish flops onto the ground beside her, and a satisfied smile graces Kara’s features. She cleans up everything and checks to see if the girl can see her before she leaves to find a spot to make a fire.

She furrows her brow in confusion when the girl is nowhere to be seen. She shrugs before putting her bag on her back and crawling back out the way she came. As she begins to walk away, something reaches her hearing.

It’s not a scream, but it still distresses her.

Looking back out over the water, she sees something that shouldn’t be there.

Her eyes widen in comprehension before she begins running toward the water. She drops her bag on the ground and swims out toward the girl - not giving time to truly think about her actions.

With awkward strokes, she moves faster when she sees the girl sink below the surface. When she reaches the spot girl was, she dives under the water. Seconds later, they are both bursting through the surface. The girl coughs and gasps for air as tears stream down her face.

“Hold on,” Kara urges her. The girl wraps her arms around Kara’s neck, and she begins swimming them both to the edge of the water. Kara lets the girl cry into her neck. 

When her feet are able to touch the ground, she repositions the girl to be able to carry her. Just as she’s about to scoop the girl into her arms, she hears shouting from the land. Two adults are running toward her. Making a quick adjustment, she helps the girl walk to land instead of carrying her.

“Chloe! Chloe!” The woman shouts over and over as they meet Kara in the knee deep water.

Kara steps back as soon as the girl is in their arms. She begins to walk back toward her bag as the woman hugs the girl close to her.

“Wait!” The woman grabs Kara’s hand

Kara looks at the woman with wide eyes.

“Who are you?” The woman looks behind Kara. “You saved my girl.” She tugs Kara into her arms, hugging both girls at once. “Thank you.” Kara is too stunned to even breath. The hug is over quickly, and the woman is letting the man pick up the shivering girl.

Kara begins to walk away again.

“Hang on.” The woman puts a hand on her shoulder. 

Kara freezes, refusing to turn and look at the woman.


	2. Communication

“How far is your campsite, sweetie?”

Kara continues to keep her back to the woman, taking deep breaths and planning her escape.

“Where are your folks?” Still not receiving an answer, the woman walks around to stand in front of Kara and bends down to get closer to her level. When Kara’s eyes meet hers, she’s shocked at the depth she sees in such a young girl. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Her eyes glance briefly at where her daughter is warming by the fire. “What’s your name?”

They look into each other’s eyes in silence for a long moment. “Kara,” she finally whispers. “My name is Kara.” The words come out slowly and with conscious thought.

The woman smiles at her and grabs each of Kara’s hands. “It’s nice to meet you, Kara. I’m Moira.”

Kara offers her a tight-lipped smile.

“Why are you walking around by yourself?”

Pinching her eyebrows together in concentration, Kara considers her words. “I was catching fish.”

The woman’s smile turns into a concerned frown. “Are you alone?” She looks around them. “You can’t be more than 12 or 13.” She squeezes Kara’s hands. “Where did you come from?” Kara points toward her fishing spot, and the woman turns her head to see. “Is that where you were just now?” She turns back to Kara.

“Yes. Catching fish.” She points to her backpack several feet away.

Biting her lip, the woman takes a moment to gather her thoughts. “Where are your parents, Kara?”

“Gone.” Kara’s voice breaks with the single syllable.

Moira takes a deep breath. “Okay, honey.” She stands up and releases one of Kara’s hands. “Let’s get your bag and get you by the fire.” Kara allows the woman to pick up her bag and lead her to their campsite. “Do you have clothes to change into?”

“I have clothes.”

They stop walking when they are a few feet from the campfire. Moira holds up Kara’s backpack and releases her hand. “Are your clothes in here? Do they need to be cleaned?”

Kara shuffles her feet. “What is cleaned?”

Moira’s heart sinks, and she looks down at Kara with pain in her eyes. “Hang on, sweetie.” She turns toward the smaller housing structure. “Chloe?”

The girl’s head pops out of the opening. “Yes, Mom?” Her hair is still wet, but Kara can see that she is wearing different clothes.

“Can you get our friend a shirt and some shorts, please?”

Chloe’s eyes go wide when she finally notices the girl standing behind her mother. “Okay,” she says in a small voice.

Moira turns back to Kara. “You two are about the same size.”

A moment later, Chloe pops back out again. She walks toward them, but pauses in front of her mother. A shy smile is on her face as she extends the clothes toward Kara. “Here.”

Kara looks up at Moira in question.

“You can put those on in Chloe’s tent.” She points toward the housing structure that Chloe came out of.

“Tent?”

Moira nods. “Go on. Take those and get dry.” Chloe stretches the clothes farther toward Kara, not wanting to step any closer. Cautiously, Kara takes the clothing in to her own arms and looks back up at Moira again. Moira pats Kara’s shoulder. “It’s okay, dear.” She smiles. “Take these wet clothes off, and I will take care of them.”

“Take care of them?”

Chloe throws an uncertain glance at her mother, but doesn’t say anything.

“Yes, I will clean them. They will smell good.” She nudges Kara toward the tent. “Go ahead. I’m going to go talk to my husband.” Moira turns to her daughter. “Did he go to find more firewood?”

“Uh-huh.” Chloe nods, taking a step back from Kara.

“Okay.” Moira smiles at Kara, who begins walking to the tent after a moment. When she reaches the entrance to the tent, Kara glances over her shoulder at Chloe and Moira before stepping inside.

“Where did she come from?”

Moira gazes down at her daughter. “I don’t know.” She turns toward the sound of footsteps coming toward them. “We’re going to try to figure something out though, okay?” They both turn to see the husband returning with an armful of firewood and an axe in the other hand. “Go sit outside your tent. When she’s done getting dressed, just talk to her in there for a few minutes.” She places a hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “Can you do that?”

Chloe only nods before doing as she’s told.

Kara stands just inside the tent, observing the contents with trepidation. “ _Is this how everyone lives on this planet?_ ” she mutters. Without effort, she listens to the conversation taking place on the opposite side of the fire. When she hears Chloe begin to walk toward her, she drops the borrowed clothes on the floor to begin the task of taking off her wet clothes. In her bag, she has two shirts, but the pants currently stuck to her legs are the only ones she has been able to obtain. Her clothes from Krypton have long since been destroyed during her last attempt at joining her family with Rao.

Somehow, Kara manages to change without setting the wet clothes on the floor. The clean clothes feel amazing on her skin, and she takes a deep breath at the closest feeling to comfort she has had since landing on this planet. As she stands with the wet clothes folded in her hand, she realizes she’s unsure what to do now.

“Um.” Chloe clears her throat from outside of the tent. “Are you - Are you okay?”

Instead of answering, Kara steps out of the tent. She regards this girl for the first time. Her hair is lighter than Kara’s, and now that she is closer to Chloe, Kara can tell that she is younger than her. They stand in front of each other, waiting for the other to speak.

“Um.” Chloe looks toward her parents talking near the fire. “Thanks,” she whispers, glancing up shyly at Kara.

Kara blinks in confusion. “Thanks?”

“Yeah, you know, thank you for, um, saving me.” She chuckles nervously. “I’ve never been saved before.” Chloe pauses to watch Kara closely. “Are you lost?”

“Lost?” Kara pinches her eyebrows together in concentration. “I have heard that word.”

“Oh.” Understanding dawns on Chloe’s young features. “Are you learning English?”

“English?”

“Yeah. That’s what we’re speaking now.” Chloe uses a hand to gesture between the two of them. “I don’t know any other languages.”

“English.” Kara tastes the word on her tongue.

“Right.” Chloe bites her lip, looking down at her feet.

Kara allows the words from across the fire to filter into her hearing. Without looking at Chloe, she asks, “What is ‘lost’?”

“Oh. Um, it’s when you don’t know where you are.” She thinks for a moment. “Kids aren’t supposed to go places alone, because we’ll get lost.”

“And what is ‘trafficking’?”

Chloe shrugs. “Never heard of it.” Losing interest in this word game, she decides to change the subject. “My mom wants to clean those.” She points to the clothes in Kara’s hand. Kara only looks down at the clothes. “Um. She wants to get the dirt off.” She kicks at the ground beneath her feet. “Dirt. It makes clothes dirty.”

“Will she give them back?” Kara uses her free hand to grip one of the straps of her backpack.

“Yes, of course.” Chloe shrugs. “She just doesn’t like mess.”

“Chloe. Kara.” They both turn to see Moira walking toward them while her husband disappears into the other tent. “How about some breakfast?” She smiles at both girls.

Chloe looks over her shoulder at Kara. “Breakfast is food. Do you know what food is?”

Kara nods.

Moira glances at her daughter in amusement, but doesn’t comment on the exchange. “I’ll take care of those while you two go sit by the fire.” She reaches for the clothes, waiting for Kara to pass them to her. Kara gazes at Chloe, who gives her an encouraging smile. “I’ll be right there.” Moira takes the clothes and gestures with her head toward the fire.

Chloe grabs Kara’s wrist and tugs her along with her. Kara follows her lead in sitting on the log. “That’s better, isn’t it?” Chloe extends her small hands toward the fire. Kara places her bag on the ground between her feet.

“Chloe, not too close.” Moira sits on a chair adjacent to the two girls and begins to get their food started.

Kara unzips her backpack and reaches a hand in to pull out her fish inside of a box taken from a campsite on the opposite side of the woods. “I have fish.” She opens the box to show Moira.

“Oh. Why, yes you do.” Her eyebrows are nearly in her hairline. “Did you catch that here?”

“Yes.”

Chloe watches in stunned amusement.

“Well, you can cook that if you would like, but I also have some other food here for you. Is that okay?”

“Okay?”

“It is another way to say ‘yes,’” Chloe stage whispers as she leans toward Kara.

Kara smiles minutely at the younger girl. “Yes.”

Chloe gives her a pleased smile. “See? You’re getting it.”

Moira clears her throat. “Chloe,” she reprimands.

“What? She said she’s learning English. I’m just helping.”

“You can help by making sure you two eat while I bring your father his breakfast." She holds out two plates for Chloe to take before taking another to the larger tent.

“Here.” Chloe hands the plate to Kara. “That’s oatmeal, blueberries, and almonds.” She points to each item in turn on Kara’s plate before beginning to eat her own food.

Kara stares down at the plate on her lap with the barest hint of a lump forming in her throat.

“You’re going to want to eat that before it gets cold.” Chloe gestures toward Kara’s oatmeal with her spoon. She scoops a large spoonful from her own plate. “I like to mix the blueberries with the oatmeal.”

Taking pity on her aching stomach, Kara takes a spoonful of her oatmeal into her mouth. Her eyebrows raise in pleasant surprise, and she quickens her pace.

“It’s not that good.” Chloe laughs and shakes her head when she sees that Kara is nearly finished. “Were you that hungry?”

Kara swallows her mouthful of almonds. “Does hungry mean want food?”

“Yeah! You’re getting it now.” Chloe smiles in approval. “Do your parents know English?” She pops a few almonds into her mouth as she waits for Kara’s answer, but she quickly recognizes the expression on Kara’s face and rushes to swallow. “Your mom and dad.” She points her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of her parents. “Those are my parents. Moira is my mom, and Gabe is my dad. Um… I live with them. We’re family. Well I have more family than just them. I have cousins that are close to here. I don’t see them too much.” She takes time to think over her explanation as she chews a mouthful of blueberries. “I guess I never really thought about how to say who they are.” She shrugs.

“I understand.” Kara’s smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

“You know that word, but you didn’t know ‘parents’?” Chloe gapes at her.

“I hear that word from adults, the big people.” Kara’s forced smile falters. “My parents do not know English.”

“Oh, so are you going to teach them?” Her interest peaked, Chloe’s food is left unfinished on her lap.

Kara sighs, keeping her eyes on her plate as she pokes her spoon at what’s left of her food. “No.”

“Why not?”

“They’re gone.”

“Oh.” Chloe’s voice is small, and she can no longer look at Kara. They both return to their food as a tense silence settles over them.

“Are you two almost done?” Moira returns to the fire.

“Yup.” Chloe spoons her last bite into her mouth before standing and reaching a hand out to take Kara’s empty plate. “What are we going to do now?”

Moira takes the plates from her daughter. “We’re going to pack up.”

“But we weren’t supposed to leave until tomorrow.”

With an apologetic smile, Moira begins to collect their items from around the fire. “Your father wants to make sure we get back in time.”

“In time for what?”

Moira’s eyes slip sideways to the silent girl holding her backpack tight to her body. “Kara’s parents must be wondering where she is. We need to -”

“No, Mom.” Chloe steps forward and grabs one of her mother’s hands. “She doesn’t have parents.”

Kara’s eyes remain on the dancing flames in front of her. Moira watches her for a moment before bringing her attention back to Chloe. “Chloe, they are probably -”

“Mom,” she tugs on Moira’s hand, “she said they are gone.”

“Chloe, she -”

“No, Mommy. She’s sad and learning English because she doesn’t have family to teach her.”

Moira sighs and kneels down in front of Chloe. “How about you go clean up your things while I talk to Kara?”

“Wait, but we have to take her. She can stay with us,” she pleads.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Moira takes a deep breath before addressing her child again. “Chloe, go pack your bag while Kara and I talk.”

Without another word, Chloe trudges toward her tent, throwing several anxious glances over her shoulder on the way.

Once the tent flap settles behind Chloe, Moira sits beside Kara on the log. “Can you tell me where you came from?”

Kara wrings her hands on the straps of her bag and avoids eye contact. “Not here.”

“Okay…” Moira realizes no more of an answer is forthcoming. “How did you get here?”

“My… parents sent me.”

“Just you?” Moira’s voice holds a maternal pain.

Images of Kal-El’s pod zooming into the sky fill her mind. Kara’s pained eyes finally meet Moira’s. “Yes.”

Moira sucks in a sharp breath. “Are you all alone out here?” Her voice is a touch breathless as she unwillingly pictures her own daughter having this conversation far from home.

“Yes.” Kara’s eyes don’t leave hers. “I’m alone.”

Moira bites her lip and turns her head toward her tent. “Okay.” She looks back at Kara with a sympathetic smile. “You’re going to come with us.”

“With you?”

She nods. “For a little while.” Moira places a hand on Kara’s arm. “Your family is somewhere.”

* * *

Kara hugs her backpack to her chest as she sits in the back of the car, watching the different structures they pass. Once Gabe entered the driver’s seat, the group fell into silence, allowing music to flow from the car’s control panel.

When the car stops, Chloe scoots across the seat to press against Kara’s side. She leans over her and opens the door. “Go,” she whispers, and they both exit from the passenger’s side. Kara steps off to the side, looking around with wide eyes at the structures far sturdier than those she had become accustomed to seeing in the woods. There are two rows of the structures. At first glance, they appear to all be similar, but Kara soon notices differences between them.

“Just leave it,” Gabe tells Moira from the driver’s seat. Moira’s hand falls from the handle at the rear of the car, where the family placed all of their belongings. “Take care of it when I get back.”

Moira only just steps to the side before Gabe is reversing the car and driving down the road. She smiles at the girls when the car is no longer in sight. “Who’s hungry?”

Kara looks back at her with wide eyes, clutching her bag to her chest. Chloe nudges her with her shoulder and smiles at her before answering her mother. “Can we have Chinese?”

Sighing, Moira glances back down the road for a moment. “Sure.”

“Wait ‘til you try potstickers!” Chloe grabs Kara’s wrist and tugs her away from her mother. “Come on! You’re going to stay in my room.” Kara allows Chloe to lead her to the front door.

Kara learns a number of new words and phrases by the time Moira sends them into Chloe’s bedroom for the night before Gabe returns to the house.

“My sleeping bag is in the car.” Chloe shuts the door behind them and walks further into her bedroom as Kara remains just by the door. “I have some extra blankets in my trunk.” She opens the box beneath the window.  “We can fold this big one to make it fluffier.” A red blanket is pulled from the box and dropped to the floor beside her. “And this one can go over you.” She stands up with a blue and yellow blanket in her hands. “Why are you just standing there?” Kara blinks at her from the door, and Chloe tosses the blanket in her hands onto the bed. “Put your bag down and come help me with this.” She shakes out the red blanket before walking to the foot of the bed and stares at Kara expectantly.

Kara nods and sets her bag on the floor. “What do I do?” She steps closer to Chloe.

“Grab that side.” She holds one end of the blanket as wide as her arms will allow her. “Like this.”

“Is this good?” Kara mimics Chloe’s hold on the blanket.

“Yeah. Okay. Um. Now do this.” She brings her right hand to her left, folding the blanket in half. Kara does the same. “Yeah. Now set it down, so it doesn’t unfold.” They lay the blanket on the floor beside Chloe’s bed. “You can use one of my pillows.”

“What’s a pillow?”

Chloe sighs in mild annoyance. “Those soft things on my bed.” She points to the two pillows at the head of her bed. “Grab one.”

Nodding, Kara grabs a pillow and squeezes it, reveling in its softness.

“Okay.” Chloe inspects the blue and yellow blanket she just spread over the red one. “That should work.” She puts her hands on her hips with a satisfied nod. “What do you think?”

Kara hugs the pillow in front of her stomach. “It’s good. Soft.”

“I meant this.” Chloe gestures to the blankets at her feet with a small chuckle. “Sorry you have to sleep on the floor.”

Her eyes drop to the setup of blankets. “Oh. No. It’s better than where I slept before.”

“Oh.” Chloe’s voice loses the playfulness that was just there. “I guess I didn’t think about that.” It’s quiet for a few moments. “It’s late. We should probably go to sleep.” Chloe turns on the lamp on her nightstand before walking past Kara to the light switch. “You don’t have to go to the bathroom, do you?”

Kara glances over her shoulder in slight confusion. “No.”

“Okay.” She turns off the light and walks back to her bed, crawling under the blanket as Kara awkwardly sets the pillow down on her borrowed blanket. “If you have to go in the middle of the night, just… be super quiet, okay?”

“Quiet?” Kara slowly lowers herself to the blanket.

“Yeah.” Chloe rolls onto her side to face Kara. “Like when you don’t make noise. People can’t hear you.” She taps a finger to her ear. “Like when you talk like this,” she whispers.

“Oh.” Kara pulls the blue and yellow blanket over her lower body, sitting up still. “I can be quiet,” she whispers.

Chloe gives her a half smile before turning off the lamp. “Good.” She rolls onto her back and wiggles into a comfortable position.

Kara gazes around the room for a moment before laying down herself. “Chloe?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Chloe peeks over the edge of the bed to look at Kara. “For what?”

Kara smiles gratefully at her. “For helping me.”

“You saved my life.” Chloe smiles back at her. “And I’ve never had a friend stay the night before.”

“What’s a fr-”

“A friend is someone that you spend time with and like and play with and that kind of stuff.” She flops onto her back, pulling the blanket up her body. “They’re different from family. You like them, but you don’t live with them.”

“Like is when something is good… like I like the pocket food.”

Chloe laughs. “The potstickers, yeah.”

“Oh.” It’s quiet for a few minutes. “Chloe?”

“Yeah?”

“I like you, too.”

“Well I would hope so.” Chloe giggles. “You’re wearing my clothes and using my cuddling pillow.” Kara laughs with her and chooses not to ask what cuddling is. “We should sleep, now.” She rolls over, so her back is to Kara. “Good night, Kara.” She smiles to herself. “That’s what you say before you go to sleep.”

Kara smiles and clutches the blanket to her as a warmth she didn’t know she could feel anymore settles in her stomach. “Good night, Chloe.” She falls asleep, wondering what the next day will bring her and her friend.

It’s still dark outside when Kara is awoken by something. She doesn’t move, but allows her hearing to search for the source. Footsteps come from somewhere in the house.

The steps are cut off by Gabe’s voice asking Moira what she’s doing. Kara relaxes back into the pillow, deducing his arrival was the reason for her waking. Just as her eyes drift close, she hears a loud, crashing sound. Her eyes fly open, and she sits upright. The crash is abruptly followed by shouting. She can’t understand enough of the words to know why Gabe is upset.

“Lay back down.”

Kara turns to see Chloe staring at her with the blanket pulled completely over her head. “Something is wrong.”

“Shh.” Chloe sinks lower into her pillow. “Keep your voice down.”

“I will go see.” Kara begins to push the blanket off of herself, but Chloe reaches a hand out to touch her shoulder.

“Please stay.”

Kara stops moving. “Why?”

“Just pretend you’re asleep, okay?” She brings her hand back under the blanket when she’s satisfied that Kara isn’t going anywhere. “They’ll stop soon.”

“I can just go -”

“No, Kara.” Her voice turns pleading. “That’s bad… not good. Just lay down, please?” Kara shoots a worried glance at the door. “Please?”

Kara meets her friend’s eyes. “Okay.”

Chloe sighs in relief when Kara lays back on the pillow. “Just close your eyes.” She pulls her blanket fully over her head.

Closing her eyes, Kara continues to listen to the shouting that doesn’t seem to be any words she has heard before - or even complete thoughts. Gabe says one last thing, and she hears two separate sets of footsteps. Kara tugs the blanket over her head when she hears the heavier set coming closer to them. They stop just outside of the door before it slowly opens. She’s laying on the opposite side of the bed from the door.

Finally, the door shuts with a click that echoes in Kara’s hearing. She hears a sigh from Chloe, but neither of them speak. Long after Chloe’s breathing evens out with sleep, Kara drifts off herself.

* * *

 

**_August 3rd, 2010_ **

 

“Well, fuck me,” Lena mutters. She has a tablet in her hands as she sits inside of the alien vehicle Lex found. Her tapping becomes rougher as she continues to not see any response from the control panel in front of her. “There has to be a way.” She attempts a new code to get past the encryption. “All passwords can be hacked,” she continues to talk to herself as she alternates between typing on her tablet and inspecting for any results. “There aren’t even that many controls here. This should not be this complicated.”

“Some hunk of metal is not going to get the best of me.” With a huff, she sits back in the seat, letting the tablet flop face down onto her lap. “This is ridiculous.” She kicks the nearest piece of the vessel. “Shit.” She winces in pain, but tilts her head in suspicion when she hears something rattling where she kicked.

Humming in thought, she hops out of the seat to fetch a flashlight. When she can’t see anything from the outside, she crawls back into it. Kneeling down on the seat, she bends over to see what she kicked. She bangs the flashlight against the spot she’s sure she kicked and hears the rattling again. Setting the flashlight down to free up her hands, she begins to feel for anything that moves.

“What’s this?”

She finds a piece of a panel that is deceivingly loose and begins to wiggle it. It finally comes loose, and she sets it down on the floor of the vessel before shining her flashlight into the hole it left. There are only a few inches of space between the panel she just removed and the outer layer of the ship. Nothing can be seen that would even remotely make the sound Lena heard. With a frustrated sigh, she scoots back to sit on the seat again.

“Maybe I’m losing it."

Losing feeling in her legs, she removes them from beneath her. When one foot bumps into the panel she removed, she hears a scraping sound. She reaches down and pulls the panel from the floor of the vessel. As she brings it up, something hits her leg.

She gasps and jerks back, expecting an insect or something of the sort. There’s nothing on her leg, but she hears something tap against the panel she’s now holding near her head. With a raised eyebrow, she turns the panel over and finds something metal hanging from a string on the back of the panel.

“What are you?”

Cautiously, she sets the panel down on her lap and reaches a hand for the object. It’s rectangular in shape and has a symbol on the top.

“Is that an ‘s’?”

She bites her lip as she leans over to get a closer look. It fits in the palm of her hand and doesn’t appear to open in any way. She glances around the empty lab before pulling the item off the string and placing it in her pocket. Without stopping to question her decision, she replaces the panel before climbing out of the vessel.

With the object in her pocket, she heads to her brother’s office.

Before she can reach for the handle of his office door, she hears his assistant's voice. Forcing a smile, she turns to face Mercy, who walks over to stand between Lena and the door.

“You can’t go in there. Mr. Luthor is away on business.”

Lena stares at her for a moment, allowing her smile to mold into a calculating expression. “To where?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”

Not allowing Mercy’s smirk to get a reaction from her, Lena crosses her arms over her chest, continuing to stare straight into Mercy’s eyes. “Make sure to let him know that I stopped by then and to call me as soon as possible.”

Mercy adds a raised eyebrow to her smirk. “He’s a very busy man, Lena.”

“Give him the message.” Lena turns on her heel, opting to go home for the day.

The mysterious object remains in her pocket until she arrives at her apartment. Her heels are kicked off just inside of the door, and she makes for her bedroom to change. She rubs the object between her fingers as she walks to the kitchen. After taking a bottle of soda from the fridge, she settles onto her couch, watching the object as if completely mesmerized.

“What are you?”

She sits cross-legged on the couch, turning the object over and over in her lap. “Just give me a hint,” she whispers, bringing it closer to her face. “Help me out, here.”

The symbol glows, and Lena drops the object to the floor in shock as her head jerks backward.

Frozen in place, she watches the blue grow until there’s a large form of light hovering over it. Lena’s jaw drops as the light takes the form of a woman with black hair.

* * *

 

**_December 22nd, 2004_ **

 

Like she has grown accustomed to doing, Kara wakes when the sun streams onto her face. Her eyes remain closed as she takes in a deep breath. When she feels her soft surroundings, she allows herself a moment to imagine what opening her eyes to see Krypton would feel like. The moment is short lived due to the stirring in the bed beside her. She takes in and releases a deep breath before opening her eyes in time to see Chloe sit up in her bed.

“Hey,” Chloe speaks softly. “Did I wake you up?”

“No.” Kara sits up and turns to face Chloe.

“Good.” Chloe sighs before throwing her blanket off her body and getting out of bed. “Let’s get ready. We can grab something to eat on our way out.”

“Out?” Kara stands and watches Chloe move around the room.

“Yeah.” Chloe tosses some clothes onto her bed. “You can wear those.” She gathers clothes for herself. “I want to show you someplace.”

“Someplace?”

“Yeah. Just get dressed.” She goes to her door. “I’m going to the bathroom really quick, and then you can go, okay?”

“Okay.” Kara stares at the closed door for a dumbfounded moment after Chloe leaves.

Once they are both dressed, Chloe leads them into the kitchen. “Here.” She holds out something for Kara. “It’s a cereal bar.” Kara takes it with a smile. “Ready to go?”

Kara nods.

“Are you sure you don’t want to leave your backpack under my bed?” She leads them out of the kitchen.

“I’m sure.”

“Where are you two going?”

Both girls spin around to see Gabe watching them from the hallway. Chloe takes a step toward him to place herself between Kara and her father. “It’s Monday. We’re just -”

“Right. Okay.”

“Mom said -”

“I said ‘okay.’”

Chloe subtly shifts closer to Kara.

“Your mom’s not here, so be back early to fix dinner.”

“Where -”

“Don’t worry about it.” He dismisses them with a wave of his hand and turns to walk away from them.

Chloe takes a few steadying breaths before turning to her friend. “Let’s go.” Her voice is void of emotions, and she pushes past Kara to get to the front door.

Kara silently walks beside Chloe, taking in everything they pass, but thinking about the exchange back at the house. Several times, she attempts to start a conversation, but cannot find the English words that accurately fit. When they stop to wait to cross a street, Chloe is the one to break the silence.

“We’re almost there.”

“Where?” Kara looks at Chloe, who doesn’t look at her.

They begin to cross the street before Chloe answers. “Do you see that building right there?” She points.

“Yes.”

“That’s called a library. We’re in Smallville, so it’s not very big, obviously, but I like it.” She smiles wistfully down at her feet. “I come here every Monday morning during breaks from school. It’s nice.” They get to the door, and she holds it open for Kara.

Kara takes a few steps into the building before stopping to take in everything in front of her. “It’s big.”

“Come on. Don’t be one of those people that stops in front of the door.” Chloe grabs Kara’s elbow, leading her into the building.

They walk past a wall that doesn’t go up to the ceiling high above their heads. Kara lets her fingers trail on the colorful bumps on the wall to realize they are not actually part of the wall. She stops walking and pulls one of the items out of the wall. Some of the sides are a different material than the others. She slides her finger along the sides.

“Careful,” Chloe says in amusement. “That’s a good way to get a papercut.”

“These walls are different than the walls at your home.” Kara’s fingers slip, and her eyebrows raise when the item in her hand opens. She tilts her head to further inspect it.

“What walls?” Chloe looks around them.

Kara merely points at where she found the book.

“Oh.” Chloe giggles. “I can see how you would say that. Um. Those are shelves.” She purses her lips in thought. “They hold stuff… like books.”

“What is a book?”

“That.” Chloe taps a finger on the item in Kara’s hand.

“What does it do?”

“Um. It doesn’t really do anything. You read it.” Choe takes a book off of the shelf and opens it. “These are words in English.”

“I understand.” Kara intently scans the words in front of her. “These words are different than Kr… than my language.”

“That’s cool.” Chloe places the book in her hands back on the shelf and does the same for the book in Kara’s hands. “Come on.” She grabs Kara’s hand to make sure her friend doesn’t stop again. “I have an idea.”

Chloe leads Kara to a table with boxes on it and releases a hand to pull out a chair for Kara. “Sit,” she instructs with a smile. Kara sets her bag on the floor before doing as she’s told. Chloe pushes Kara closer to the table and takes a seat beside her. “Okay.” She places a hand on a small object in front of the box on the table. “This is a computer.” Chloe wiggles the mouse, and the box lights up. “This thing is a mouse and that’s a keyboard. They are what works the computer.”

Kara watches the simple device being controlled by Chloe.

“That’s the screen.” Chloe taps the computer screen. “It’s where you can see all kinds of things.” She types on the keyboard, assuming Kara’s fascination is because she has never seen technology before. “So this is PBS. Um… It’s how people learn English… kinda.” She sits back in her chair.

“I can learn English with this computer?” Kara places a hand on the mouse, pressing the button to see what it does.

“I think so.” Chloe glances around at the shelves surrounding them. “I’m going to go find some books we can use. Will you be okay here?”

“Yes.” Kara smiles at her friend, waiting for her to walk away before she begins her exploration of this computer. She’s already completely immersed in the screen when Chloe returns to her side.

“I found these for you.” She sets down a few smaller books than the one Kara looked at earlier. “I guess you’re figuring that out okay.” She watches Kara for a moment. “They have headphones.” She picks up a set of headphone next to the computer and places them over Kara’s head, pulling one side off of her ear. “This is how you hear the computer. There’s a book I have been wanting to read. I’m going to go find it, but I’ll be back.”

“Okay,” Kara responds without looking away from the computer.

Chloe finishes her book while sitting next to Kara, who doesn’t say a single word to her. “Hey,” she calls out to Kara as she taps her on the shoulder.

Kara removes the headphones and looks at her friend in question.

“We should probably go back.” The reluctance is evident in her voice. “Normally, I stay longer, but…” She leaves the thought unfinished.

“It’s okay.” Kara smiles encouragingly. “Thank you for bringing me here. This computer was… helpful.” She stands and places her backpack over her shoulders. “I have used devices similar to this before, but they were very different.”

Chloe gapes at Kara.

“Should we go? I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

Still gaping at Kara, Chloe stands, and they begin walking to the exit. Chloe can’t take her eyes off of Kara as they walk.

“I was reading that these books carry only one story usually. No wonder this library is so big.”

Chloe nods slowly, watching Kara with wide eyes.

“I would like to come back here and try the books next time. We didn’t really have anything like that where I come from.” She falls silent as memories of reading anything she wants on a device that can fit into the palm of her hand.

Finally, Chloe finds a way out of her stunned state. “What’s happening right now?”

“We’re walking,” Kara state matter-of-factly.

Chloe stops walking, causing Kara to stop after a few steps and turn back to her. “I know that, but you…” She waves her hands to vaguely gesture toward Kara. “You must have watched more than _Sesame Street_.” With a shake of her head, she resumes walking.

“Yes, I found many videos.”

A few more minutes go by before Chloe asks, “You weren’t pretending to not know English, were you?”

“That would be a silly thing to pretend.”

“People do silly things all the time.”

Kara shrugs. “Not me.”

Both girls turn introspective for the remainder of the walk.

When they reach the front door, Chloe takes a deep breath before opening it. “Keep your voice down, okay?” She waits for Kara’s nod before walking into the house. They softly walk down the front hallway to find Gabe sitting in the living room with a bottle of something in his hands. Chloe freezes upon seeing him, and unconsciously holds a hand out for Kara to stop.

“Tell your friend to go to your room,” Gabe demands without taking his eyes off of the television.

Kara touches Chloe’s elbow. Barely turning to look over her shoulder, Chloe’s face hardens. “I’ll meet you in my room.”

Hurt and confused, Kara takes a step back from Chloe. “What?”

“Just go,” Chloe whispers. She meets Kara’s eyes. “Please?”

With her eyes on her feet, she makes her way to Chloe’s bedroom. Once in her room, she closes the door and tunes her hearing into her friend. She listens to Gabe question her about where she was. The sound of glass breaking fills her ears, and Gabe is suddenly yelling. Without a second’s thought, Kara rushes out of the room to se Gabe holding one of Chloe’s arms with his other hand poised to hit her.

In a blur of motion, Kara is beside them, grabbing the arm before he can strike Chloe. Gabe doesn’t have a chance to process what’s happened before they all hear a crack. He cries out in pain, releasing his grip on Chloe’s arm. Chloe falls to the ground, crying and crawling away from them. Wanting to get him away from Chloe, Kara throws back his arm, sending his entire body through a wall across the room.

* * *

 

**_August 3rd, 2010_ **

 

Lena stares at the hologram before her. “How is this possible?”

“Language identified.”

“Holy shit.” Lena crawls over the back of her couch, putting it between her and the woman.

“Greetings. I am an artificial intelligence set to aide Kara Zor-El on her mission to protect her infant cousin, Kal-El. You may call me Alura. As you are in possession of this chip, you will have taken in Kara, the daughter to the woman whose consciousness I now hold.”

Lena’s certain her jaw is lost somewhere on the floor.

“Kara is -”

A knocking on the door draws Lena from her shock. “Shit. How do I turn you off?” She begins to walk around the couch, but the hologram disappears before she gets there. Deciding to process that later, she picks up the chip and shoves it in her pocket before running to the door.

“Lex?” She mentally praises herself for not sounding as breathless as she feared she would.

Without a word, Lex walks past her into the living room, looking around with his hands behind his back.

Lena shuts the door and takes a deep breath before joining her brother. “I thought you were out of town on business.”

“Our father has died.” Lex speaks in an even tone as his eyes never flinch away from Lena’s.

“What?” Lena grabs the back of the couch with one hand.

“I understand that this is a shock, Lena.” He takes a step closer to his sister. “You can take the time you need to process this.” He smiles sympathetically.

Lena isn’t sure what she wants to say or ask first. “What -”

“I don’t want you to worry about any of this. I have everything taken care of.”

“What do you mean?”

“The funeral preparations are underway. We will be hosting the service here, in Smallville, but Lana and I will be moving to Metropolis immediately.”

“Metropolis.” Lena shakes her head in an attempt to sort all of the information being given to her.

“Yes. LuthorCorp belongs to our family. I will be stepping up as CEO and making Metropolis our head office.”

“You’re CEO, now.” Lena taps her fingers against the back of the couch.

Lex nods, pacing toward the large window to gaze out over the small buildings around them. “You don’t have to make a decision now, Lena.” He keeps his back to her. “I do want you to consider this though.” Looking over his shoulder, he meets his sister’s eyes. “Move with me and be my CTO.”

Lena’s eyebrows raise, and she takes a few steps away from the couch, glancing around at the decorations in her apartment. With a sigh, she turns back to her brother. “I’m not a chief officer kind of person, Lex.”

“It’s LuthorCorp, Lena.” He fully turns to face Lena and walks toward her. “Luthors are meant to be leading it.” With a smile that doesn’t completely reach his eyes, he stops a few feet in front of Lena. “Think about it.” He takes one more step closer, forcing Lena to shift her gaze upward in order to see him. “I leave the day after the funeral.”

Lena watches him leave without another word.

When the door is locked behind him, she releases a deep breath. Her hands find their way into her pockets, and she bites her lip when she feels the chip. She looks toward the spot, where Alura was displayed.

* * *

 

**_December 22nd, 2004_ **

 

Kara gapes at the hole in the wall before rushing to Chloe’s side. “Did he hurt you?” She reaches out to touch Chloe, but her friend shuffles back away from her with a sob. “Chloe, I’m just trying -”

“Get away from me!” Chloe screams, pushing herself away from Kara until her back is pressed against a wall.

“Chloe - You - I -” Kara stammers as the edge of her vision begins to blur. “I was helping you.”

Chloe’s eyes are wide with tears streaming down her cheeks as she stares at Kara. “Get out of here!”

Kara shifts closer to Chloe, trying to reach out for her again. “Chloe, but I -”

“Just go!” Chloe grabs the nearest item to her hand and hurls it at Kara.

The vase hits Kara’s chest, breaking and scattering around her. Kara doesn’t even flinch as the wetness in her eyes finally spill over. “I - I’m sorry.” She attempts one last effort to connect with her friend.

Chloe flinches away from Kara, curling around herself. “Don’t hurt me.”

Kara’s breath catches at the sound of Chloe’s cries. Stumbling to her feet, she barely grabs her bag before running out of the door.


	3. We Do What We Have To

**_October 30th, 2005_ **

 

A cluster of abandoned warehouses in south Kansas has been home to Kara - along with dozens of other aliens. While they are refugees like here, none of them are alone. Many of the other aliens, especially the older ones lack any useful knowledge of English. Kara spends her days scavenging for food, doing the odd job for the other aliens, and sneaking into different libraries around the state. By the time she returns to the warehouses, she has no interest in talking to anyone and simply jumps up to the loft she calls home. Less than a month after she found this place, she braved going back to Smallville. An older gentlemen had come out of the house next door to Chloe’s and seen Kara standing in front of it on the sidewalk. He collected his newspaper and told her that the Sullivans had moved before returning to his house, leaving a stunned Kara standing on the sidewalk.

Kara jumps out of the window of her loft to avoid disturbing the sleeping family below her. She lands with the barest sound and begins walking toward the hints of the rising sun, deciding today will be a library day. Once she’s clear of the sight of the warehouses, she super speeds the rest of the way to the Colorado border. She doesn’t leave until the sun begins its descent. On her way back to the warehouses, she stops in the nearby town for food. 

While walking down the street with her box of pizza, a sound to the side of a building draws her attention. Still chewing her mouthful of pizza, she walks toward the dumpster with the pizza box in one hand and a half eaten slice in the other.

“Who’s there?” 

Kara hears the crying again.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

She takes a wide path to walk around the dumpster. One of the boxes beside the dumpster moves. Kara checks for any onlookers before walking closer to the box.

“Are you hungry?” She keeps her voice soft and stops a few feet away from the box as she takes a bite of her pizza.

After a long moment, she watches a panel of the box move before a shaggy head pokes out of the side.

Kara offers a kind smile to the boy, guessing him to be no older than seven. “I have pizza.” She holds up the box.

The boy peeks his head out farther to glance around them. Seeing no one else, he crawls out of the box. 

“It’s nice and hot still.” Kara shakes the box, so the boy can hear the contents. “Want some?”

Hesitantly, the little boy stands and takes cautious steps toward Kara. He reaches a hand out when Kara opens the box, but stops with his hand hovering just outside of reach. “Why are you giving me food?” His voice is hoarse. 

Kara wonders whether that’s from a lack of use or from screaming, something she knows intimately. “I know what it’s like to be hungry.” She offers no further explanation, and the boy doesn’t ask for one. 

He carefully removes a slice from the box, bringing his other hand up to keep it from falling part. His eyes find Kara’s, asking a silent question. Kara smiles encouragingly, and he brings the slice to his mouth, taking a tentative bite. His entire body sags before he takes another, larger bite.

Ignoring the memories reminding her of the many times she experienced the same relief, Kara gestures toward the opposite way from which she came. “There’s a place we can sit over there, where no one will bother us.” She makes sure to keep a smile on her face. “I’m going to be over there. You can join me if you want, and we can finish this pizza.” With a small nod, she begins to walk, letting the boy decide for himself. She has barely gone a five feet before she hears the boy’s steps following her.

In the shade of a few trees, she settles onto the grass with the pizza box in her lap. She removes a slice and watches the boy out of her peripheral vision as she eats. Not wanting to startle him, she remains quiet as he cautiously comes closer to her. Finally, he is standing a foot in front of her. 

“Do you want another one?” Kara asks with a smile.

Wordlessly, the boy settles on the grass next to Kara, leaving a foot of space between them. Kara opens the box and angles it toward the boy, who takes another slice with a shy smile. Resting her back against a tree, she watches the sun set as they eat in silence. The little boy barely finishes three slices, and Kara happily eats the rest. As Kara works on her last slice, the boy scoots closer to her. Kara smiles wistfully, valiantly trying not to see her cousin in this child next to her. 

By the time she’s finished, the boy’s side is pressed against hers. She gazes down at him in concern when she feels him shiver. He’s only wearing jeans and a worn t-shirt. “You’re cold.”

The boy only nods.

“I have a warm place you can stay. There are some other kids there, too.” She doesn’t think about the fact that the two children sharing her warehouse have pointed ears and a blue tint to their skin. “Do you have anywhere else to go?”

He shakes his head.

“Okay.” She pats his leg before standing. “Let’s go.”

“Really?” The boy staggers to his feet, staring up at her with wide eyes.

For a moment, Kara can’t say anything as she can only see the way her cousin looked up at her when she first held him. She nods as she swallows heavily. “Yes. It’s a lot comfier than out here.” They begin walking. “Tomorrow, we’ll talk about what to do next. Okay?”

“Okay.”

The walk to the warehouses is quiet apart from the sound of their footsteps. She leads him into her warehouse while he stays close to her side. There are a few refugees sitting around a fire on the far side of the building. One of the children sees them enter and taps her mother’s shoulder to show her the new person.

“There are some extra blankets over here.” Kara walks toward a corner with the boy staying close, but gazing around in wonder. 

The girl that saw them walk into the warehouse walks up to the little boy while Kara finds bedding for him. “Hi.” 

The little boy blinks with wide eyes when he sees the girl’s ears. He looks over at Kara and back to her. “Hi.”

She smiles shyly at him. “Where you from?”

“Um… I… Texas.”

“I’ve never heard of there.” 

“Oh.” 

“Want to play?” 

The boy turns to Kara, who shrugs at him with a smile. He turns back to the girl. “Okay. What -”

The doors to the warehouse are blown in, sending debris around the building. Several screams are heard, but they are overpowered by men in black storming in with weapons. Before Kara can react, the little girl is hit by a streak of blue. She’s dead before her body hits the ground. 

Kara grabs the boy and shoves him behind a crate. “Stay here. I’ll be back.”

“What?” The boy gapes at her.

“Just stay hidden.” She runs straight at the man that shot the little girl, but the other men continue to go after the scattered aliens. Stopping in front of the man, she wraps both hands around the gun and breaks it with ease. The man back slaps her, but screams out in pain when his hand hits her face. Kara pushes him away from her, sending him flying out of a nearby window. One of the mothers of the little girl screams out in pain. Jerking her head toward the woman, Kara watches her take a bullet to the head before falling to the ground.

The other mother sees and runs to her. Kara intercepts the woman and takes her behind a crate, where the other child is crying. In a flash decision, Kara uses her heat vision to carve a hole in the wall near them. “Go!” 

She runs back out toward one of the attackers. He doesn’t see her until she’s standing next to him with a hand on his weapon. She pulls the weapon from his hands and hits him in the stomach with it, causing him to crumple to the ground in pain. The logo on the weapon catches her attention. There’s a black L-shape marking surrounding a purple C-shaped design.

“Watch out!”

Kara turns to the boy when she hears his shout. A shot from an attacker fires straight at her chest. She gapes in surprise when it bounces off without the slightest sensation. Her surprise is short lived when she hears the boy scream. Seeing the blood pouring from his stomach sends her rushing toward the man that shot him. Without slowing down, she slams her body into him, and he crashes into the wall twenty feet away from where he stood. 

Running away before she can see the man is no longer breathing, she rushes to the boy’s side and drops to her knees. Her hands hover over his body as the blood slowly spreads around him.

* * *

 

**_November 11th, 2010_ **

Lena walks back to her lab after Lex’s televised press conference to announce the change in name from LuthorCorp to LexCorp. With the move to Metropolis and her taking on the CTO position, Lena finds herself spending most of her time in her lab. Currently, her main project involves working with minerals from the crash site in Smallville. Lex provided her with the research he began on the radiation, believing it could lead to a cure for cancer. Shortly after moving, Lex hired Barbara Ann Minerva.

“Hi, Barbara.” Lena smiles at her colleague upon entering the lab. 

“Ah, Lena.” Barbara closes the notebook in front of her and grabs another folder. “How was it?”

“There wasn’t much to it.” Lena sits at her desk, putting on her glasses before turning on her computer. “I stood off to the side while my brother spoke to a camera.”

“Sounds about right.” She makes a note. “I finished running some tests this weekend.”

Lena looks up at Barbara. “On what?”

Barbara shakes her head. “Too soon.”

“Okay?” Lena narrows her eyes in skepticism. 

“I don’t want to jinx it.” Barbara offers her a smile.

“Right.”

They both turn toward the door when it opens. Lex strides into the lab, stopping in front of Barbara’s desk. He turns to his sister. “Lena, would you excuse us?” He adds a smile to the request. “It’s been a long day. Why don’t you head on home?”

Lena takes a deep breath. “Sure. I was just packing up here.” She shuts down her computer and quickly grabs her things before leaving, but not without a glance back to see her brother walking around the desk to lean against it only inches from Barbara. 

She pulls her car into her designated parking spot less than 30 minutes later. Stepping into her apartment, she looks around at the natural light flowing into the living room - a sight she rarely comes home early enough to witness. After hanging her purse and coat on the hooks by her front door, she opens her safe. She pulls out a wooden box and takes it to her kitchen. Once it’s set on the counter, she opens it and turns on the AI with practiced ease. 

Alura appears in her kitchen. “Hello, Lena.” Lena smiles at the woman. “Would you like to pick up where we left off?”

“Sure.”

As Lena cooks dinner, she repeats phrases back to Alura. She eats at the kitchen island while she practices the foreign language. 

The following morning, Lena walks past Mercy’s surprisingly empty desk to her brother’s office. She pushes the door open without hesitation, but only manages a few steps inside the room before freezing at the sight before her.

She clears her throat, bringing Lex’s and Barbara’s attention to her. Barbara pulls her face back from Lex’s, but keeps her hands on his chest as she smirks at Lena, who raises an eyebrow at them in return.

“Ah, Lena.” Lex drops his arms from around Barbara and steps away from her, facing Lena with his trademark, charming smile. 

“I was just leaving.” Barbara grins at Lena as she walks past her, closing the door on her way out of the office.

Lena keeps her eyes on Lex, who places his hands behind his back as he walks around his desk to his seat. “How’s Lana?”

Lex waves a dismissive hand with his eyes remaining on the various papers on his desk. “She’s at home.” With a sigh, he sits in his chair. “Barbara will no longer be working for you.” He finally meets Lena’s eyes. “She will be beginning in a new lab to work on her theories effective immediately.”

* * *

 

**_October 30th, 2005_ **

Before Kara can reach out to touch the little boy, her ears are flooded with the incoming police sirens. She presses her hands over her ears and lets out a scream when she can’t block out the sounds. Her heat vision is set off, blasting a hole in the ceiling. Pushing herself to her feet, she only grabs her backpack before running out of the building, leaving the bodies behind her.

She doesn’t stop running until there is no more land. 

Reaching the sand, she slows to a walk and trudges through the sand, dropping her backpack before walking straight into the water. When the water swirls around her knees, she stands and stares out at the ocean, a sight she has only seen in various libraries. She closes her eyes, focusing on the sounds of the water crashing against her legs and the shore. Her breathing slows until it matches the rhythm of the subtle waves around her. The material of her pants cling to her, and the breeze blows her hair off of her shoulders. Spreading her arms out, she holds her head back to feel the sun streaming down on her.

Nearby voices break through her senses, and she opens her eyes to look around before running to shore, grabbing her backpack, and hiding behind large rocks off to the side of the incoming people.

She watches a large group of children laughing and talking as they make their way to the beach. Kara guesses them to be no more than a few years older than her. Staying in her hiding spot, she watches them interact with each other. As she begins to listen to a conversation between a girl and boy separate from anyone else, she hears a crash from the road. After a moment’s hesitation, she runs toward the screaming at just slightly above a human pace.

Without pausing, she jumps straight onto the flipped car and rips off the door. She doesn’t notice the children rushing up to see what’s happening. Reaching into the car, she pulls the woman out from the driver’s seat before retrieving the infant from the back seat. Just as the baby is in her arms, the car explodes, throwing Kara out of the car with the baby in her arms. Kara hears several screams as she lays on the ground. Recovering quickly, she stands and takes the baby to its mother. The terrified mother takes her baby into her arms. Kara jerks her head toward the group of children. 

One of the girls is on the ground crying and cradling her arm. Kara goes to her side. “Are you okay?” She kneels down beside the girl, ignoring the other children moving away from them.

The girl uses her good arm to push herself back away from Kara. “What - What do you want?”

Kara reaches out a hand, but the girl flinches. She pulls her hand back and opens her mouth to speak, but she’s interrupted by sirens. With one last look at the girl, she leaves in a blur of motion.

* * *

 

**_February 19th, 2011_ **

Lena stops in front of Mercy’s desk.

“He’s expecting you,” Mercy says without looking up from her computer. “Go on in.”

Biting her tongue, Lena enters her brother’s office, walking right up to stand in front of his desk. His back is to her as he looks out the window over Metropolis. “You wanted to see me?” 

“I did.”

Lena waits for him to explain further, refusing to give into asking him for further information. 

“Look at it, Lena.”

She still refuses to take the bait.

Lex stands and strides to the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing out at the Metropolis skyline. “The Daily Planet.” He grips his hands behind his back. “I have bought out the largest press offices in the city… All of them except The Daily Planet.”

Lena watches his back closely.

“That’s where you come in.” He turns just enough to look at Lena over his shoulder.  

She keeps her gaze steady, not flinching away from his eyes.

“I can’t get near enough to them even with Lana working there. Wayne and White are keeping a tight hold on shares.”

Lena raises an eyebrow at him as she crosses her arms over her chest.

Lex grins and fully faces her. “One of their journalists has agreed to speak with us. Don’t make any plans for dinner.”

“Why would a journalist want to meet with the CTO of the company trying to buy their job out?”

Waving a dismissive hand, Lex returns to his seat. “7PM at the steakhouse in the square. The reservation has already been made. Mercy will give you discussion points.”

Lena raises her chin. “I’m still unclear on why you are not attending this interview.”

Lex rests his elbows on his desk, clasping his hands together and leaning forward. “I’m trying to let you do this willingly, Lena.” His smile remains charming as always.

Straightening her back, Lena clenches her jaw in an attempt to refrain from letting him get a reaction from her. “Fine.”

“Excellent.” He smiles in victory and leans back in his chair. “Close your door on the way out.”

It’s a blatant dismissal, but she refuses to let him have the last word. “I’ll be leaving early to prepare.” She spins on her heel and exits, leaving Lex in mild shock.

Mercy is standing just outside the door when she leaves. Wordlessly, she holds out a folder for Lena, who takes it on her way past Mercy. She keeps her chin up as she marches down the hallway. In the elevator lobby, she tosses the folder in the trash before pressing the down button.

Lena coasts on the adrenaline for the entire drive home. When she finally crosses the threshold into her apartment, she feels her entire body sag as the last of the adrenaline leaves her. Sneaking a glance at the clock in her living room, she realizes how early she left LexCorp as she had not even broken for lunch yet. Shaking her head in disbelief at her own actions, she grabs something already made from her refrigerator. On her way to her couch, she takes Alura from her safe. Opting to not even bother to prepare for this meeting with The Daily Planet, she spends the next few hours with Alura.

At 6:45PM, she waltzes up to the hostess desk. With a professional smile, she speaks to the woman. “Reservation for The Daily Planet.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The hostess retrieves a menu and gestures for Lena to follow her. “Right this way, Miss Luthor.”

Lena rolls her eyes behind the woman’s back, but cordially follows the woman to a semi-secluded area of the restaurant. Her eyes find a woman, wearing a red dress and taking a sip of wine. She believes this reporter can only be one person.

“Here, we are, Miss Luthor.” The hostess gives the women one last smile before leaving, oblivious to the elevated tension as the two women meet each other’s eyes.

“So.” The reporter elegantly sets down her glass.

“Lois Lane?” Lena raises a single eyebrow, sitting back in her chair.

“Lena Luthor?” Lois smirks and crosses her legs at the knee.

They watch each other in silence, each waiting for the other to speak. The waiter walks up to them, asking what Lena would like to drink.

“They have an amazing red.” Lois holds up her glass to Lena before taking a sip.

Lena regards her with a tilt of the head. “Bring a bottle.”

The waiter leaves with a nod. 

“I suppose Luthors don’t need to be asked for ID.”

Lena only raises an eyebrow at Lois again.

Lois lets out a single chuckle, but the waiter returns with the bottle of wine before she can speak. He quickly takes their orders, and they are left alone again. The reporter watches Lena take a sip without the slightest wince. “Not your first drink?”

“No.”

Swirling her wine, Lois takes a moment to appraise the young woman before her. With the slightest nod to herself, she takes another sip before placing her glass on the table and leaning forward with her arms on the table. “Are we going to continue with your underage drinking, or should I get to my questions?”

Lena’s lips twitch into an artful grin. “I’ll probably have more answers for the underage drinking than about what you want to know.”

At that, Lois can’t help but chuckle a little. “Miss Luthor, I’ll be honest.” She leans forward more. “I’m the best journalist at The Daily Planet without an executive title… yet. When there’s something big to uncover, they send me.”

“And what are you trying to uncover about me, Miss Lane?”

Lois gives Lena a calculating look. “We both know you’re smart enough to know this isn’t about you.”

“So tell me this…” Lena crosses her legs at the knees and regards Lois. “Did you know this meeting would be with me and not Lex?”

“No.” Lois taps her fingers on the table. “But I wasn’t surprised in the slightest.”

“Fair enough.” Lena takes a healthy sip of her wine. 

They sit in silence for a few moments. Their food being delivered to the table loosens the tension. A few minutes of pleasantries are spent on the food. Lois soon navigates the conversation back to where she wants it.

“Graduating at 17 with two Master’s from MIT in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology Management is certainly qualification enough for a position at any notable conglomerate.” She raises her glass in acknowledgement of that accomplishment. “Being appointed CTO before you even turn 18 is something else entirely.”

“Is it?” There’s a smirk playing at Lena’s lips.

Lois shakes her head in amusement, deciding on another tact. “Lex Luthor has made more purchases and takeovers in the past few months than Lionel Luthor ever did. There are accounts and claims of the LuthorCorp logo being seen in questionable places. As early as 2005, there has been evidence of weapons coming from LuthorCorp at crime scenes.”

“If there’s a question in there someone, I’m not hearing it.”

They stare at each other for a long moment. “Lex Luthor is slapping his name on a wide variety of companies all throughout Delaware, removing all management, and closing off any public knowledge to what he’s working on.

“In the past two weeks, he’s performed near hostile takeovers of any press that has written even a sentence on LuthorCorp. I’ve also found evidence of large purchases of land and buildings between here and New York. LexCorp is planning something,” she ignores her food to lean her forearms on the table to give Lena her full attention, “and I’m here to give you a chance at a public audience… to have a voice of your own apart from LexCorp.”

Lena can’t help but blink in surprise.

“Now, Lena,” she says her first name differently than her last, “what plans does LexCorp have for these purchases, and do they have anything to do with the rumors of alien technology that have floated around the company for decades?”

Slowly, Lena sets down her fork and sits up straight in her chair, facing Lois completely. “Lois, if I knew what Lex’s plans were, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you.”

Lois raises both eyebrows, but doesn’t argue that point.

“I haven’t had a real conversation with my brother since before he graduated college.” Lena notices something akin to sympathy briefly flash across Lois’ face. “I can tell you this.” She adjusts in her seat slightly. “What I am personally doing is trying to make this world a better place, a goal I’ve had in mind for as long as I can remember. Even a few days in this country’s foster care system is more impactful than I can begin to explain. As CTO, I can head projects that will tackle some of this world’s problems from hunger to cancer.” She pauses to make sure she has Lois’ eyes. “What my brother does is his business.”

Two strong wills fence across the table for what feels like an endless moment. “How’s everything going over here?”

They both turn to see the waiter smiling down at them - clearly oblivious to the tension. When he walks away, Lena picks up her glass. Lois is the one to break their silence with each other.

“How would your brother react to an exclusive on the youngest CTO in history that doesn’t once mention him or anything he has done?”

That brings a real smile from Lena. “I turn 18 next month, which is how old he was when he started as a lab manager for LuthorCorp. Think you can get the article done before then?”

A conspiratorial smile spreads across Lois’ features. “How’s next week?”

“Perfect.”

They toast their wine glasses and shift the conversation to a less tense interview. As they near the end of the bottle of wine, the tension has significantly lessened.

“I actually had a cousin that lived in Smallville.” Lois relaxes back into her chair.

“Small world.” Lena finishes the contents of her glass.

“She’s about your age actually, but they moved when she was maybe 10 or 11.”

“Oh. Well I’m afraid I probably wouldn’t have known her even before then. I went to a boarding school during the week and didn’t socialize much.”

Lois chuckles. “I imagine you didn’t spend much time away from your studies.”

“You’re not wrong.” Lena joins her soft laughter.

With a fond smile, Lois shakes her head. “I haven’t been there in about five years… and I don’t plan on going anywhere near Kansas anytime soon.”

“Not the best memories?” Lena rests her chin on her hand as her elbow rests on the table.

Lois shrugs a single shoulder in nonchalance. “I only went the last time to see my sister. It was an odd weekend.” Lois shakes her head and downs the last of her drink. “She’s off studying law now, so I have no reason to go back to Kansas.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I feel the same about Kansas. I think my mother is still staying at the Luthor mansion between her various trips.”

“Oddly, that does make me feel better.” She peeks down at her empty glass with a small sigh. “Okay, so I think I’ve got everything I need for this impromptu article on new, hot, young, CTO Lena Luthor.” She reaches into her purse for her wallet.

“No. No.” Lena waves her hand. “It’ll be much more fun to take this out of Lex’s personal account.” She winks at Lois. “I’ll let them know on the way out.” 

Lois drops her wallet back into her purse. “I was going to pay with my Planet card, but that sounds like more fun.”

“Great.” Lena gathers her own purse. “I’ll walk you out.”

The following week, Lena walks to a newspaper stand down the street from her apartment building. A smirk forms on her face as she reads the headline on the front page. 

**The New CTO in Town**

**The 17-year-old Lena Luthor is tackling everything from stem cell research to sustainable food production.**

She barely finishes her purchase before she begins reading through the article.  While Lena was previously aware of Lois Lane and her work, she had never taken the time to read much of what she has written. Her writing is direct and unbiased enough for Lena to wonder about Lois’ true feelings toward her. A few times during their dinner, Lena fleetingly wondered if that was close to what having a sister would have been like for her. 

As she walks, she becomes fully engulfed in the article. She enters the garage of her apartment building to avoid the lobby. When she turns a corner, she feels a sharp pain in her arm before she’s being thrown against a nearby wall. The air is knocked from her lungs, and the newspaper falls to the ground. Blinking away the haze, she finds a hooded face inches from hers. She struggles against the hands holding her against the wall, but the voice that comes from beneath the dark hood freezes her.

“You just had to get involved, didn’t you, Lena?”

“Barbara?” Lena narrows her eyes to try to get a better look in the darkness.

The cold laugh that comes from her former colleague sends a flood of ice down Lena’s spine. “If I can even be called that anymore.” Barbara throws her head back, sending the hood off her head.

Lena sucks in a sharp gasp, and her eyes widen at the sight before her.

“Be honest, dear.” Barbara smirks. “Have I ever looked more ravishing?”

“What happened?” Lena’s voice is barely above a whisper.

Barbara’s grip tightens and she leans her face closer to Lena, grinning enough to show two canines peeking from her lips. “You happened.” She narrows her cat-like eyes at Lena. “Everything was going fine. It was my research.”

“I don’t -”

“You know what I’m talking about!” Barbara shouts. “Don’t try to lie to me. He told me everything?”

“What?” 

“Look at me, Lena.” Her words are backed with a growl low in her throat, her fur-covered throat. 

“You’re -”

“A fucking cat!”

Lena’s eyes dart down when they catch a movement, seeing a tail flicking behind Barbara. “More like a cheetah.”

Barbara slams her shoulders into the wall again. “You would know, wouldn’t you?”

“Look,” Lena holds her hands up as best as she can, “whatever happened… I’m sure there’s a way to… fix it.” She tries not to focus on the spots covering Minerva’s face. “Just tell me -”

“Enough!” Barbara tightens her grip. “Lex told me everything.”

“But I don’t know -”

Barbara raises a clawed hand to strike at Lena, but a black blur sends the woman with cheetah fur falling to the ground several feet away from Lena. With a quick shake of her head, Barbara is back on her feet and baring her teeth at Lena, who presses herself back against the wall. Someone steps between them. 

From behind, all Lena can see is what appears to be a woman in dark clothing and a hooded jacket. Before Barbara can make a move, two flashes of red light shoot at the ground by her feet, causing her to jump back with a yowl. 

“This isn’t over, Lena!”

The woman in black takes a step toward Barbara, and she turns and runs away from them with her tail waving behind her. Lena lets out a slow breath, but remains wary of this stranger. The woman faces her, but Lena cannot see below the hood of the oversized jacket. Lena takes a breath to speak, but the hooded stranger turns and runs. 

Lena closes her mouth with an audible click. She glances around before bending down to pick up her newspaper. Something catches her eye a few feet away. 

Cautiously, Lena reaches for the chain, lifting it up to show a teardrop pendant with a stone of some kind in the center. Her head turns toward where the woman left.

* * *

 

**_February 20th, 2006_ **

Kara peels back a piece of the aluminum wall before crawling into the long abandoned warehouse. She wanders over to a corner of the warehouse with a few torn blankets and her backpack. Sitting down, she pulls a wrinkled newspaper from under her jacket and looks at the image on the cover. Although the quality is poor, the blurry girl holding a blurry baby in front of a blurry car is clearly her. 

The words tell of only some of the searches for the “mystery girl,” and two scientists claim to have solid evidence backing theories that the girl is an alien. 

Alien.

Kara stares at the word.

She’s heard it plenty of times.

Without taking her eyes off of that word, she set the paper on fire with her heat vision, watching until every piece is a charred ash on the dusty ground. She lets out a deep breath that sends spirals of burnt paper swirling around her feet. Closing her eyes, she wraps her hands around the pendant on her chest before tucking the necklace under her shirt. She stands, shoulders her backpack, and flies out into the night through a hole in the roof.

Several minutes later, she touches down in the forest that provided her with her first experience of this planet. After a slightly unsteady landing, she begins walking toward that spot.

That spot where she landed.

That spot where she felt a yellow sun for the first time.

That spot where she realized she had been stuck in the Phantom Zone.

That spot where she found her cousin alone in his pod on this strange planet.

That spot where she discovered she had failed the last thing her parents ever asked of her.

Kara clenches her jaw and takes determined steps.

She looks up at the sky hidden above the canopy, seeing stars flickering between the leaves. Her vision blurs a moment, and she looks forward again, blinking her eyes back into focus. Her foot hits a rock, and she stumbles. As she regains her footing, her breathing begins to quicken until she’s taking strained breaths. She reaches a hand up to steady herself on a nearby tree. Just when her fingertips touch the bark, her knees give out beneath her. Both hands grasp at the tree, and she feels her strength leaving her. With one last look up, her eyes fall close with what she believes is a red dot sparkling high above her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. I had some big stuff go on. Yay adulthood and trying to start a web series and business and make money writing so I can quit this full time job and pay off my student loans while actually using my degree. That wasn't sarcasm at all... *insert Santana level eye roll*
> 
> I'll be posting more regularly now. Hopefully. Shooting for once a week. This story is outlined, so I know what's going to happen. It's just a matter of 24 hours simply not being enough for me right now.


	4. Third One Out

**_February 21st, 2006_ **

“ _ Kara? _ ”

Kara presses herself further into the soft padding beneath her.

“ _ Kara, my child, it’s time to wake up. _ ”

“ _ I’m tired, mother.”  _ Kara mutters and turns her head without opening her eyes.

“ _ We need you to go with Kal-El.” _

She hears a slight snapping in front of her face.

“ _ It’s time. _ ” Her mother’s voice is farther.

Kara wraps a hand in the soft material below her hand. She inhales a long breath through her nose.  _ Fire _ .

She jolts awake, sitting straight up with a fire beside her.

“Woah there.”

Breathing heavily, Kara frantically turns away from the fire to see two girls sitting beside her. The girl closest to her places a hand on Kara’s shoulder.

“Take a deep breath.”

Kara’s eyes dart back and forth from her and the girl kneeling by her feet. “Where am I?”

The girls look at each other before turning back to Kara. “We’re just outside of town.”

“Town?”

The girl by her feet speaks this time. “Yeah. The campgrounds outside Smallville.”

“Oh.” Kara’s eyebrows pinch together as she takes in the trees around them before settling on her backpack near her feet.

“Here.” The girl beside her, who appears to be older than the other, holds out a bottle of water for Kara. “We found you passed out just off the hiking trail.”

Kara’s eyes drop to the water bottle briefly before meeting the girl’s again. The girl smiles at her encouragingly, and Kara slowly reaches for the water. “Thanks.” She takes several large sips.

“We were out hiking… Were you out here at night?” She looks back at the other girl.

Looking closely at the two of them, Kara can see similarities in their appearances. Kara clears her throat, taking another drink of water to give herself more time to think of a response. “I went for a walk.”

“Okay…” Dragging out the word, the older girl turns to the other one.

“We were out hiking,” the younger one adds.

“Oh.” Kara’s voice is small.

“I’m Lois.” The older girl, Lois, smiles at her. “And that’s Lucy.” She leans toward Kara with a knowing grin. “Don’t mind her. She’s just not used to sitting still.”

Kara smiles hesitantly. “Are you sisters?”

“What gave us away?” Lois flips her hair back over her shoulder with a casual flick of her hand. 

Lucy rolls her eyes as she stands and walks away from them.

“What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Sweetie? Really?” Lucy calls over her shoulder as she digs through her bag.

Lois only smiles at Kara, waiting for her response. 

“Kara.”

“Kara. That’s a pretty name.” Lois half turns over her shoulder. “I can hear you rolling your eyes.”

“Not a thing,” Lucy calls back instantly.

“How old are you?” 

The depth with which Lois looks into Kara’s eyes catches the young alien off guard. The Earth calendar was something she learned about during her first trip to the Smallville library. Unsure exactly how to answer this question, she decides to use Earth calculations based on when she landed. “14.” Kara’s eyes briefly shift to Lucy. “Almost 15.”

“Cool.” Lois tilts her head with a pleased smile. “The stoic one over there pretending to look busy is 18 and heading off to school. I’m 20 and here to take her there.”

Kara glances down at her hands in her lap.

“Okay.” Lois pats Kara’s legs, but doesn’t seem to notice her flinch. “How about some food?”

“Okay.” Kara shrugs.

“Good girl.” Lois reaches for her own backpack and pulls out some snacks. “Here.” She sets a few options on Kara’s lap.

“Thank you.” 

Lois returns her smile before turning over her shoulder. “Are you going to join us?”

With a huff, Lucy drops her notebook and pen onto her bag before taking the few steps back to them. She drops herself to the ground by Kara’s feet. Lois tosses a bag of trail mix toward her sister. “Thanks.”

With a chuckle, Lois winks at Kara. “We’ve both spent more time than I would have liked out on different trails. This one never wants to take a break.”

“That’s all you ever want to do.”

“Compared to you and the general? Sure.” Lois shrugs, taking a bite of a granola bar.

Kara’s stomach noisily objects to her hesitance in eating, and she reaches for one of the treats in her lap. She pulls her leg in to sit crossed with both girls in her field of vision, but keeps her eyes on her lap.

After a few moments, Lois is the one to break the silence. “We’re not from here.”

“We’re not from anywhere,” Lucy interjects.

“We have spent some time here with our cousin, though.”

“You did.”

“She moved some time last year, and she never really told us why.” Lois glances at Lucy, who shakes her head in response. “After we found out her mom was infected and left, I came here to visit her. They moved shortly after I left.”

Kara continues to eat at a controlled pace.

Lois taps her fingers on her thigh, taking in the quiet, young girl in front of her. “So yeah… Lucy graduated early, and I’m the one charged with making sure she gets to school okay.”

“Don’t pretend that you aren’t in it for the shopping you plan on doing.” Lucy levels a knowing gaze at her sister.

With a conspiratorial look at Kara, Lois shakes her head in mild annoyance. Lois proceeds to do a majority of the talking with occasional comments from Lucy, and Kara merely watches their interactions. When they are finished eating, the sisters make no move to leave, so Kara folds her hands in her lap as she tries to pay attention to them and piece together what happened the previous night.

“So where are you from?”

Kara’s eyes dart to Lois when the following silence tells her the question was directed toward her. “Where am I from?”

“Yeah.” Lois nods, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. “I don’t recognize your accent.”

“My accent?” Kara’s forehead crinkles in her confusion.

“She would know.” Lucy gives the impression of rolling her eyes without actually moving her eyes. “You know, with how much of a world traveller she is.”

Lois pats Kara’s leg. “Don’t take offense to her.”

With a frustrated huff, Lucy pulls her backpack into her lap and begins digging through it. Kara bites her lip, trying to come up with an answer to her question. She finally shrugs. “I learned English last year.”

“Oh.” Lois sits back with raised eyebrows. “Wow. You’ve only been speaking English for a year?”

Kara only nods.

* * *

**_February 20th, 2011_ **

Before the light in the sky has shifted from purple to pink, Lena is striding past Mercy’s desk with her eyes determinedly set on Lex’s office door. She immediately pushes both doors open and walks into the large office, marching straight toward where Lex sits at her desk.

“What happened to Barbara?”

Lex lazily raises a single eyebrow at her.

She stops in front of his desk. “What did you tell her?”

“Lena.” Lex’s voice is placating as he simply looks up at her.

“You need to tell me Lex. I know you know.” Lena pushes a finger onto his desk. “I never ask you questions, but -”

“Yes, and it really is better if we just keep it that way.” Casually leaning back in his chair, Lex taps his fingers on his desk.

Lena blinks to clear her shock. “No, Lex. I was attacked last night… by  _ your _ friend.”

“My friend?” An amused smirk graces Lex’s features.

“Barbara.” Lena tries to keep her voice even, but her voice is still louder than she can control. “She attacked me last night, claiming that I turned her into that… that…” She waves a hand in the ear, envisioning the fur and cat eyes.

“I’m sorry that you were attacked, Lena.” Lex smoothly stands from his chair. “Were you injured?”

“What? I - No.” Lena shakes her head, clenching her fists at her sides. “Lex, Barbara was -”

“Then I don’t see why we are having this discussion.” Without breaking eye contact, he reaches a hand toward the intercom on his desk.

“Lex, she was -”

“Mercy?” His eyes stare into Lena’s.

“Yes, Mr. Luthor?” Mercy’s voice comes through the intercom.

“Lex, you need -”

“Please escort Mis Luthor out of my office.” He’s still staring at Lena. “We’re done here.”

“Now, wait -”

“Right away, Mr. Luthor.” Mercy strides into the office before her voice can finish reverberating in Lena’s ears.

Lena’s mouth opens and closes a few times. “She needs help!”

Lex raises his chin as Mercy comes to stand just behind Lena. “Ms. Minerva resigned last month to seek out her own endeavors.” He nods once at Mercy, who immediately steps beside Lena. Sitting down, Lex picks up a pen and drops his eyes to the documents on his desk. “Any incidents that occur after her time here are not my responsibility.”

Mercy steps between Lena and Lex’s desk, facing Lena directly. 

Clamping her jaw shut, Lena takes a step back and meets Mercy’s eyes unflinchingly. “I know the way out.” Without a spare glance at her brother, she turns toward the door and leaves.

Without a conscious destination in mind, Lena surprises herself by walking straight to the lab housing the alien pod. Stepping into the cold room, she pulls the door shut behind her with her eyes focused on the small vessel. Her fingers slowly slide from the handle of the door as she walks toward it. She climbs into the pod with practiced ease, settling into the seat and closing her eyes as she inhales a deep breath. 

The breath is released on an audible exhale, and she opens her eyes to look at the control panel that is still so foreign to her. Reaching into her pocket, she finds the necklace from the night before and carefully removes it. She allows the pendant to rest in her lap as her fingers play with the chain. After a few moments, her eyes narrow.

“Wait…”

She lifts the necklace. The pendant spins in front of her face.

“Wait a second,” she whispers as recognition dawns on her.

Fumbling to grab her phone from her pocket, she adjusts in her seat so her knees are below her. She unlocks her phone screen as she bends over to use it as a flashlight. It takes a moment to find the panel that hid the panel she’s looking for. Setting the panel aside, she holds her phone up closer to back of the hidden compartment. In the metal, there’s an indention that is the same shape and size as the pendant on the necklace. Biting her lip, she looks down at the necklace in her hands. 

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

She slides the pendant into the hole. A faint hum sounds, and Lena watches in amazement as a small section of the metal slides open. A round object tumbles out to fall on the bottom of the pod in front of Lena. 

For a silent moment, Lena just stares at the alien device.

Her phone screen turning off is what brings her back. She unlocks the screen to shine the light on the device. It’s a flat circle, but three quarters of it is thicker than the rest. The thicker portion is made of a grey metal in a crescent shape, and a light blue crystal-like material makes up the circle. Rounded lines are engraved into the metal portion.

Muffled voice interrupt her observing. Without thinking about it, she shoves quickly grabs this new object and shoves it into her pocket with the necklace after removing it from the hidden keyhole. She places the panel back into place and climbs back out of the pod, feeling grateful to have chosen to wear jeans. A bare second after she sits at a table with her notes, the door opens to reveal her brother. 

Lex raises an eyebrow when he sees her, but says nothing. Instead, he turns his head to his companion.

“Here we are.”

Lena watches a man Lex’s age walk into the lab. His hair falls past his ears, and he’s wearing dark sunglasses with a neutral expression on his face. “Lex.” Lena’s voice does nothing to betray her emotions.

“Tobias, this is Lena.” Lex gestures toward her with his head. “She was just leaving.”

“Excuse me.” Lena stands from her stool.

“Thank you for all of your help, Lena.” The smile he sends her doesn’t come anywhere close to meeting his eyes. “You’ve done great here, but I no longer need you on this project.”

“What?” Lena hates herself for clenching her fists at her sides.

“Mr. Rice will be taking it from here.” Lex takes a step toward Lena.

Lena slams her notes shut, taking a step toward him as well. “I moved here to work on this project, Lex.”

“And you’ve done enough.” He steps his right foot back to stand sideways, clearing a path to the door for Lena. “Go focus on that project of yours. Now that you no longer have Dr. Minerva, I assume you are behind schedule.”

Clenching her jaw, Lena uses all of her willpower to calmly grab her notebook from the table. She holds it at her side and meets her brother’s eyes. They stare at each other for a tense moment. Finding an unfamiliar look staring back at her, Lena bites back what she knows would have been a childish comment, but keeps her eyes locked on her brother’s. “I wish you the best of luck, Mr. Rice.” She takes the slight raising of Lex’s eyebrows and the loosening of his jaw as a win and leaves before he can recover.

Once the door closes behind her, she stops walking and looks over her shoulder at the door. She bites her lip, making a decision. Turning around, she heads for Lex’s office again.

Sneaking a peek around, Lena discovers that Mercy’s desk is empty. She walks straight past the desk and into Lex’s office. Immediately rounding his desk, she wiggles the mouse to bring his computer to life. Several minutes of frantic typing later, she’s watching his screen fade to his desktop. Her sigh of relief is short lived by the door opening, and she jerks her head up to see Lana rushing to close the door.

Lana turns to face the desk. Seeing Lena behind Lex’s desk, she freezes with wide eyes. Her hair looks as though she hasn’t touched it in days, and her clothes are wrinkled and haphazard. 

“Lena.” The way she breathes out the name is a mix between relief and fear.

Unsure where to start, Lena stands behind Lex’s desk with one hand on the mouse and one hovering over her pocket with the necklace and circular object from the pod. “Lana, are -”

Lana’s hand lifts from her side to aim a pistol at Lena, who instinctively takes a step back from the computer. “I’m not here for you.”

Holding up her hands, Lena softens her voice. “What’s happening?”

“Just,” the fingers of Lana’s free hand fidget at her side, “get away from the computer.” She jerks her head at the wall. “Stand over there.”

Lena keeps her hands up as she walks to stand by the wall. “Lana?”

Turning her attention to the computer, Lana runs around Lex’s desk. She keeps the gun in one hand as she grabs the mouse. 

“If you talk to me, I may be able to help you.”

Lana continues to click with the mouse, occasionally typing with her free hand.

“Lex could come back any minute.”

“I know.” Lana clicks once more and stands up straight again, turning to look at Lena. “I only needed a minute.” She rushes back to the door. With her hand on the door handle and glances over her shoulder at Lena once more. “I do hope you can get out soon… that you find out who he really is before it’s too late to get away.” She turns back to the door and pulls it open.

“What is this all about?”

Lana doesn’t turn to look at her. “You’ve always been better than them.” She hurries out of the office before Lena can say anything.

* * *

**_February 21st, 2006_ **

Even after Kara has finished eating the snacks given to her, Lois continues to fill the silence between the three of them. 

“So what are your plans for the day?”

Kara blinks at Lois as her mind races. “Just… a walk.” She shrugs her shoulders.

Lois hums as she tilts her head and regards the young girl sitting in front of her. “Can you excuse us for a moment?” Her smile is so kind that Kara can only nod. Lois winks at her before turning to her sister. She jerks her head away from Kara and stands. “We’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

Playing with the strap of her backpack, Kara watches them walk toward a tree. She keeps them in the corner of her eye as she walks toward the nearby water to rinse her hands and face. Her ears focus on the conversation between the sisters.

“She’s on the run from something.”

“Obviously.” Lucy crosses her arms, watching Kara dip her hands in the freezing water.

“Obviously… we have to take her with us.” Lois mirrors Lucy’s stance.

Raising a single eyebrow, Lucy meets her sister’s eyes. “So we can take her to the police station.”

Lois shakes her head. “I don’t know…” Her eyes slide to Kara, who is sitting by the fire again. Kara angles herself so she can see both of them, but they can’t see her face.

“We have no idea where this kid comes from.”

“Exactly. We don’t know where is safe for her.”

“A police station won’t be unsafe for a lost child, Lois.”

“You don’t know that.”

“We really don’t have any other options. She spent at least all night out here. For all we know, this could be some part of a scheme or something. She could have people watching us right now.”

“Why are you so paranoid?”

“Why are you acting like a caring, older sister?”

“What would you know about being a caring sister?”

“Ha!” Lucy throws up her hands. “That’s rich coming from you.”

Lois lowers her voice. “She’s 14 and a tiny thing. She can’t hurt us.”

Kara clutches her backpack to her chest.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Lucy matches Lois’ volume. “I want no part of this if you aren’t taking her to the authorities.”

“Lucy -”

“No, Lois.” She steps closer to Lois. “How many children can run around outside in Kansas in the winter and survive all night?” Her voice becomes a harsh whisper. “Remember everything with the meteor freaks?”

“She’s not -”

“She’s just about the right age to have been a baby when the showers happened, don’t you think?”

Lois sighs and turns her back to Kara. “She looks normal enough.”

Turning her head, Kara finds they are both looking away from her now. 

“Our aunt looked normal, too.” 

Tears tickle at the corners of Kara’s eyes when she hears Lucy’s tone. She speeds away before she can find out Lois’ response. Once she’s far enough away from them, she takes off into the sky.

Kara’s feet are soon touching down in an alley between tall buildings far north east of where she left the two sisters. She presses her back against the wall, listening to the sounds around her. The alley is nothing like the ones she has hid in previously. It’s well taken care of, and she can hear friendly voices from the street. She rapidly changes clothes, smoothing the wrinkles out as best as she can. Placing her backpack onto her shoulders, she cautiously walks toward the street. 

On the sidewalk just outside the alleyway, dozens of children around her age are standing and talking among themselves. She tucks herself back behind the wall, tapping her fingers on the stone as she assures herself that none of them saw her. Peeking her head around again, she finds that all of their backs are turned to her. With her breath held, she steps completely out onto the sidewalk. She quietly walks to join the group, standing in the back without drawing attention to herself. They are all wearing jeans like her, but many are wearing shirts of the same color or with similar logos. She subtly zips up her jacket to cover the clearly old shirt underneath. 

The adults at the front of the group are joined by a woman, who ushers everyone into the doors of the building in front of them. Kara wraps both hands around the straps of her backpack, following them into the building with her eyes glued to the feet of the kids in front of her.

Once the woman holding the door open shuts it behind her without saying anything to her, Kara slowly lifts her eyes. She sucks in a gasp when she recognizes the name of the museum and realizes just how far she flew to be standing in Washington D.C. right now. Having gone through a period of time in which she read about every genocide on this planet, she takes the risk of getting caught and follows along behind the group.

The teachers, showing very little interest in the children or the museum, drift away toward the coffee shop, leaving the tour guide alone with around 30 children. Many of the children break off into small groups to talk among themselves, ignoring the tour guide that continues to speak to whoever is listening. 

Kara listens to every word, looks at every picture, and reads every display.

They turn a corner, and Kara’s ability to breath momentarily leaves her when she sees the wall of glass in the room. The tour guide continues speaking, and most of the children briefly spare a glance, but Kara’s feet can no longer move. She stands in front of the glass, telling herself not to mentally do the math on how many shoes are piled behind the glass.

Knowing each pair equals far more than one person settles a weight in Kara’s stomach.

As she feels the sting of her own tears, comments from some of the children reach her ears without the aide of her enhanced hearing.

“Who’s the weirdo?”

“Where did she even come from?”

“... way creepy.”

When she sees someone walking up to stand beside her in her peripherals, she wipes the sleeves of her jacket across her face before shoving her hands in her pockets. She keeps her face forward. The girl is only a few feet away from Kara, but the girl is too short for her to see her pale face well through her black hair. 

“They all whisper about me, too. Family stuff or something. It’s whatever. My mother likes to say that boarding school isn’t for making friends.” The girl shrugs. “Just have to ignore them.”

Kara turns her head toward the girl, but the girl stays facing forward. Laughter from the other side of the girl reaches them. Kara looks past her to see one girl with golden skin and piercing eyes looking straight at them. A circle of girls stand around her, laughing and whispering in her ear.

The girl next to Kara rolls her eyes. “I especially ignore that one.” She walks away from Kara, striding past the group of girls with her head high.

The tour guide motions the children to the next room. With one last glance at the shoes behind the glass, Kara turns and leaves the museum. If anyone sees her leave, they make no move to say anything to her.

Keeping her head down, Kara begins walking. She stops once to eat, but continues going without a set destination in mind. She comes to a few bodies of water and rapidly flies over them without being spotted. Her body shows no sign of exhaustion even after the full day of walking. As the sun becomes hidden behind the buildings, Kara takes note of the darkness settling over this city. She shoves her hands into her jacket pockets and walks down the sidewalk that’s far emptier than she would expect of such a large city. 

Voices somewhere down the street cause her to stumble over her own feet.

She doesn’t recognize the voices themselves.

It’s the language.

On a trip with her parents, she heard that language. She was just a child, but the lilt and rhythm are unmistakable. 

Her steps slow to a stop as she focuses her hearing. Determining from where they’re coming, she crosses the street to find the people behind the voices. When she peeks around a corner, she sees two people talking in the shadows behind a building. Kara sneaks closer, wishing she had been able to learn the language. They stop talking and walk to the back of the building. Pulling up the hood of her jacket, she follows them to a door hidden at the end of an alleyway under a neon sign. She counts to 30 when the door shuts behind them before walking up to it. As she’s debating whether or not to open it, the door is opened from the inside. Someone with blue skin stumbles out of the door without noticing her. Kara slides into the doorway before it can shut, looking back over her shoulder to see if she was followed. 

When she turns forward, she’s standing at the short end of a rectangular room with a bar taking up a large portion of the wall on her left. Booths line the right side with tables spaced throughout the middle. The few patrons are either sitting alone or talking in various languages.

_ They’re all aliens. _

As she walks through the dimly lit space, she barely draws any attention to herself. She settles into the booth in the corner farthest from the door. With her back against the wall, she brings her feet onto the bench and tucks her knees into her chest. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she rests her hood-covered head on her arms as she settles in to allow herself to relax before figuring out her next move. Her eyelids obscure her vision, and she allows her hearing to dim to a low buzz. She loses track of time long before her eyes shut.

Something slides across the table in front of her, causing Kara to jerk her head up with wide eyes. She looks from the plate of food now in front of her to the girl smirking down at her from the side of her table.

“You look hungry.”

Kara blinks up at her, and the older girl’s eyes go from Kara’s face to the food and back. “I don’t have any money.” With her arms still wrapped around her knees, Kara squeezes her hands around her biceps as she tries to ignore the smell of the food so close to her.

“I didn’t ask for any money.” The girl rolls her eyes and slides onto the bench across from Kara, revealing another girl who was standing behind her. “That’s Holly.” She points her thumb at the girl even younger than Kara. “I’m Selina.” 

Slowly, Kara releases her tight hold on her legs, allowing them to cross beneath her as she turns to face Selina. 

“Cat got your tongue, sweetie?” Selina pats the spot next to her on the bench and quirks an eyebrow at her companion. “Would you sit down already?” She turns back to Kara as Holly sits beside Selina. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Kara.” 

“Cute.” Selina winks at her. “Seriously though. You’re going to want to eat that while it’s warm.”

“But I don’t -”

“Yeah, yeah.” Selina waves a hand to cut off Kara’s protest. “You don’t have any money. I didn’t ask for any money. Let’s just move past that, okay?” Kara casts a sideways glance at Holly, who doesn’t seem the least bit phased. “A girl’s gotta eat.” She pokes Holly in the side.

Holly jumps with a small squeak. “Right… or she’ll end up on the street.”

“That’s my girl.” Selina bumps her shoulder against Holly’s. Kara drops her eyes to the plate of food. “So you’re obviously new around here.” 

Kara’s head shoots up to look at Selina with wide eyes. “Um.” 

“Calm down, kitten.” Selina sits back in her seat, throwing her arm over the back of the chair behind Holly’s head. “No one around here asks questions.”

Glancing around the dark room, Kara notices that everyone is keeping to themselves. “What is this place exactly?”

“Exactly?” Selina shrugs. “It’s not exactly much of anything. Just look at it as a place for people that don’t want to be bothered.” A man with sunglasses and dark gloves covering his hands sets a a tray with three full glasses on their table and walks back to the bar. “Most places like this around Gotham have been shut down over the past year.” She grabs one of the glasses and takes a large drink. Holly picks up one of the glasses and takes a smaller one. “Take a sip of that.” Selina gestures to the remaining glass with her own. “It’ll help you relax. And then maybe you’ll finally start eating.”

Casting her eyes away from Selina, Kara reaches for the remaining glass and sniffs the contents before taking a tentative sip. “It tastes funny.”

Selina raises her glass toward Kara. “The burn is the best part.”

Kara stares into the amber liquid before setting the glass down on the table, keeping silent about the lack of burning she feels. Her fingers trail from the glass to the plate of food, and she breaks off a piece of bread to place in her mouth. 

“There we go.” Selina grins. “The drink will also help the food taste better.”

“It’s not bad.” Kara’s hunger overpowers her nervousness about eating, and she begins eating with more fervor.

Selina chuckles. “Told you you looked hungry.”

“Geesh, Sel. Would ya just let the kid eat?” Holly shakes her head at the drink.

“Really? You’re calling her a kid?”

Holly shrugs and takes a sip. “Just saying.”

Kara surprises herself by wanting to smile at their banter. She covers up the smile by bringing her drink to her lips, drinking half the contents while Selina and Holly continue to exchange quips. 

“You’re pretty quiet.” Selina leans back in her seat, focusing her attention on Kara.

“Oh.” Kara hastens to swallow her last bite of food. “Me?”

“Yeah.” Selina laughs in amusement. “You.” She nods her head toward Kara’s drink. “You drank that whole thing.”

Kara shrugs. “Guess I was thirsty, too.”

Holly giggles and elbows Selina. “I like her.”

“So how you feeling there?” She leans forward on the table, eyeing Kara closely.

Pinching her eyebrows together, Kara peers down at her body to check for any signs of damage that would have caused that question to be asked. “I’m feeling normal.”

“Huh.” Selina flops back against the back of the seat. “That’s new.” She tilts her head. “How old are you?”

“I’m, uh, 14.”

“Interesting.” Selina narrows her eyes, watching Kara, who sinks back into her side of the booth. 

Holly nudges her friend. “She’s barely older than me.”

Selina doesn’t look away from Kara, but her lip quirks into a grin. “Guess so.” She taps her fingers on the table. “How did you like the drink?”

“It was okay.” Kara rubs her palms against her jeans. “Thank you for this.”

“Don’t mention it.” Selina waves a casual hand. “I have a soft spot for sad little girls all alone in corners.” Holly throws Selina a sideways glance, but doesn’t say anything. “And I can’t deny that you intrigue me.”

“I intrigue you?”

“Mmhmm.” Selina’s hum is almost a purr. “I love a good mystery shrouded in darkness.”

“You’re so sappy,” Holly comments under her breath.

“Nah. I just love giving in to curiosity.”

“You know, you could get killed that way.”

Selina chuckles low in her throat. “But it can be oh so satisfying.” She chucks Holly under the chin with a playful wink. “What do ya think, Holl?” Throwing her arm over Holly’s shoulders, Selina turns back to Kara. “Can we keep her?”

Unable to hold in a giggle, Holly covers her mouth with her hand to try to compose herself to match Selina’s serious expression. “I wouldn’t mind the extra company.”

With a decisive nod, Selina grins at Kara. “You up for this, Kara?”

“Um…” Kara’s eyes drift to Holly, but no further explanation comes from her. “Up for what?”

Selina’s grin stretches and reminds Kara of a wild animal. “Ah-ah.” She waves a finger at Kara. “We don’t ask questions. We’ll just have to learn about each other with time.” Her head falls to the side to rest against Holly’s.

Kara purses her lips in thought. “I, uh…” Kara lifts both hands and lets them flop back onto her lap. She opens and closes her mouth as thoughts rush through her mind, unable to decide exactly what to do.

“The phrase you’re looking for is ‘What the hell?’” Selina’s shoulders shake with her laugh. 

“What the hell?” Kara says it as more of a question than Selina did.

“Yup.” Selina pats Holly’s head as she removes her arm from over her shoulders. “We’ll work on that.” With a nudge from Selina, Holly slides out of the booth with Selina not far behind her. “Coming?” She smiles down at Kara.

“I d-” Kara shuts her mouth and swallows. “What the hell?” 

“There you go!” Selina and Holly smile widely at her.

Kara grabs her backpack as she slides out of the booth. “Where are we going?” She asks when she’s standing in front of the other two girls. 

“Home.”

“Home?” Kara barely manages to say the word through the tightening in her throat. 

Selina wraps an arm around Kara’s shoulders. “That’s right, kiddo.” 

They walk through a maze of buildings before Selina finally opens a door and steps aside for them to enter. Kara holds onto the straps of her backpack as she stands near the wall of the dark room, watching Selina and Holly mill about the room. Holly turns on several lanterns, and Selina disappears into a back room. When she returns, she’s carrying several blankets and a pillow.

“Welp.” Selina drops the pile of old fabric on the rundown couch. “It ain’t fancy, but it’s not a bad place to curl up, you know?”

Kara adjusts the straps on her shoulders. “I’ve had worse.”

“Yeah?” Selina turns over her shoulder to give Kara a questioning glance. She only gets a shrug in response. “Alright then.” 

“I’m exhausted.” Holly waves a hand as she walks toward the back room. “Good night.”

Selina pats the couch. “Make yourself comfortable, kitten.” She smiles at Kara.

“Thanks.” Kara’s smile is small, but grateful. 

With a wink, Selina disappears after Holly. Kara waits until she can no longer see her before walking to the couch. She lowers herself to sit on the cushion and looks around the dimly lit space.

“I’ve had worse,” she whispers to herself.

Kara groggily opens her eyes, taking in the darkness of the middle of the night. She blinks in confusion, trying to determine what woke her. A sound brings her attention to other side of the room.

Someone dressed completely in black walks from the back of the hideout. Hopping off the couch, Kara stands before the masked figure defensively. Before the mysterious person can see her, Kara blinks, changing her vision. She stumbles backward as Selina’s face comes into clear view under the black mask.

“Selina?”

“Kara?” Selina straightens and faces Kara completely. “Why are you awake?”

“What are you doing?” She ignores the question.

Selina runs her hands down the front of her suit, drawing Kara’s eyes to the claws attached to her fingers. “I’m going to work.”

“What work?” Kara fidgets with her hands, staying quiet about her ability to see Selina’s covered face.

Selina’s lips curl into a half grin. “Just something I have to do to make sure Holly is taken care of.” She shrugs. “Money isn’t always easy to come by… as I’m sure you know.” She takes a few steps closer to Kara.

“Oh.” Kara looks down at her feet. “Yeah.” When she looks back up, she can no longer see Selina’s face. “Can - Can I help?”

Closing the distance between them, Selina places a hand on Kara’s shoulder. “We’ll talk later. Okay, kitten?”

Kara can only nod before Selina disappears out of the door.

With the windows being boarded up, Kara wakes after the sun. She rolls over on the couch just as she hears the door opening. Selina, no longer wearing the black suit, walks inside the room with a backpack over her shoulders.

“Morning, kiddo.” Selina grins at Kara as she drops the bag on a nearby table. “Sleep okay?”

Kara sits up and shrugs. “I guess.”

“Bathroom is that way. Holly sleeps like the dead. She’ll be up eventually.” She pulls a box out of the bag. “I brought donuts.”

“Oh.” Kara tries to process all of the information and the questions she has. Deciding to not bring up their encounter the previous night, Kara makes her way to the restroom if only to compose herself before facing whatever the day and Selina will bring her.

When she returns to the main room, she finds Selina counting cash from her backpack. She doesn’t say anything as she returns to sit on the couch. 

“Are those donuts?”

Kara glances over her shoulder to see Holly rubbing her eyes as she walks into the room, grabbing a donut before joining Kara on the couch. 

“How’d you do last night?” Holly asks Selina, who begins putting the cash back into her backpack.

Selina shrugs nonchalantly. “Not the worst I’ve done.”

Holly nods and takes a large bite of her breakfast. “Don’t you want one?” she asks Kara.

“Here.” Selina holds the box out toward Kara.

“Thank you.” Kara takes one with a grateful smile. She eats and listens to the two girls chat.

“When are you going back out?” Holly asks Selina from her reclined position on the couch.

“Now actually.” Selina checks through her backpack.

“What do you do?” Kara allows her curiosity to come to the surface.

Selina smirks, but doesn’t look up from her backpack. “We’ll teach you.” She zips her back close and meets Kara’s eyes. “One day.”

“Oh.” Kara blinks in surprise. “Okay.”

“Atta girl.” Selina winks at her and shoulders her bag. “For now, just watch this one.” She gestures to Holly.

“Her? Watch me?” Holly points at her own chest.

Selina shrugs with a playful eye roll. “Someone’s gotta while I’m out.”

“Since when?”

“Since always.”

Holly groans and turns to Kara, who’s sitting beside her. “I’m not a baby.”

Kara’s eyes pinch together as she looks at Holly. “At 13, you’re far from being a baby.”

“Yeah, trying telling her that.” Holly jerks her head toward Selina.

“Um. Okay.” Kara turns back to Selina. “She’s too old to be a baby.”

Holly laughs and shakes her head. Selina snorts out a single laugh and begins walking to the door. “Good luck.”

“Are you talking to me or her?” Holly asks.

“Yes.” Selina shuts the door behind herself, leaving Kara to play with her hands in her lap as Holly watches her in consternation.

“Where did you say you were from?”

Kara’s head turns toward Holly. “I didn’t.” 

Holly nods. “S’what I thought.” She stands up from the couch. “May as well get ready.”

“For what?”

“You’ll see.”

Over the next couple of weeks, the three girls fall into a routine. Selina brings them breakfast in the morning. Holly sometimes wakes up before she leaves. While Selina is gone for a better part of the day, Holly takes Kara around different areas of the city, sticking to less crowded locations. Alone on the couch, Kara takes time to control her vision that allows her to see through solid objects. Sometimes, she’s able to see into the room Holly and Selina sleep. 

After a restless night for Kara, having seen Selina come home with a large bruise on her arm, Holly takes Kara to a busy part of town.

“I think you’re ready.” 

“Ready?” Kara watches Holly, who sits on the bench casually, but her eyes constantly observe the people around them. 

“For your first lesson.” Holly grins at her. “Gotta start small, right?”

“What… What are we learning?” Kara shifts in her seat. 

“You’re learning.” Holly sits up straighter. “I’m teaching.”

“You’re going to teach me?”

“That’s right. Got a problem with that?” Holly attempts to wear one of Selina’s glares, but doesn’t quite get it, so she slips into a more questioning glance.

Kara shakes her head. 

“Good.” Holly beams at her and turns back to watch the people milling about the street. “First things first… You have to learn to watch and be invisible.”

“Who are we watching?”

“I’m watching them.” Holly nudges Kara with her elbow. “For now… see if you can watch me.” She throws a sly grin at Kara before slipping off the bench and into the crowds of people.

Kara doesn’t move from her spot, but her eyes follow Holly through the flowing people. If it weren’t for her heightened skills, Kara doesn’t think she would be able to keep track of her friend. She narrows her eyes when Holly slips between two men.  _ Did she put her hand in his jacket? _ Holly walks in a large circle of various directions to arrive back at Kara’s side.

“So?” She grins cockily at Kara.

“What did you do?”

Without breaking eye contact with Kara, Holly reaches into her pocket and pulls out a leather wallet, holding it up to show Kara. 

Kara’s eyes drop the the wallet. “Did you take that from that man?”

Holly tilts her head. “Either I’m slipping, or you’re going to be a natural.”

“You did take that.” Kara pushes herself to sit straighter on the bench.

“Yup.” She shoves the wallet back into her pocket. “Now we can have something fresh for lunch.”

“But…” Kara’s eyes dart around them before she leans closer to Holly. “You just reached into his pocket and stole that… without him knowing.”

“That’s the idea, Kara.”

Kara bites her lip, watching the oblivious people walking by them. 

“Wanna see how I did it?”

“I don’t know.” Kara’s eyes go unfocused as she thinks about the times she stole only what was needed and never directly off of anyone. She thinks about the internal debate she had with herself and her mother’s voice each time.

“Look,” Holly scoots closer to Kara, “it’s not that bad.” She presses her shoulder against Kara’s. “Really. We only take from those that won’t miss it… or deserve it.” A wistful smile crosses her face. “That’s what Sel taught me.”

“But how do you know?”

Holly shrugs and turns away from Kara, looking at the crowd. “You just know.” She shrugs again. “There are lots of not great people around here. Lots of rich people that take lots of money and never give any to people that could use it. There are people that see a little girl alone on the streets and don’t even throw a penny at her feet.” 

Kara slowly turns to watch Holly’s profile as she continues to speak.

“This is a rough place to be, but it’s all we know. It’s all I know.” She pushes a loose strand of hair behind her ear and meets Kara’s eyes. “Sel saved me. We do what it takes.”

“To do what?”

“To survive.”

* * *

**_February 20th, 2011_ **

As soon as she walks into her apartment, Lena locks the door and places the device from the pod in the box with the Alura AI. She takes the box and sits at her computer, logging into her LexCorp files. Going to the folder with all of the information on the alien materials, Lena discovers she’s unable to access them. 

“Lex,” she bites out through gritted teeth.

Typing furiously, she attempts to maneuver past his defenses, but nothing works. She tries a different route and searches for Tobias Rice in the system, but finds no trace. With a frustrated breath, she puts her face in her hands.

“There’s got to be something.”

Unable to stop thinking about Lana, she opens Facebook, but Lana’s account has been deleted. 

“Of course.”

A figure in black flashes into her memory. Without questioning herself, she searches through the internet for anything on the woman in the black hoodie. She finds a few odd comments or posts about a figure in black, but nothing is more useful than what she experienced first hand or the necklace of which she’s now in possession. It takes several minutes, but she manages to code a program to search for anything that could be related to the woman in the black hoodie. 

On her screen, the front page of a random newspaper in California appears before her. “Midvale?”

The image is of poor quality - even for 2006. A young girl with hair falling from the hood of her jacket is carrying what looks like a baby. A wrecked car is behind them. The accompanying article tell of only some of the searches for the “mystery girl,” and two scientists claim to have solid evidence backing theories that the girl is an alien. 

“An alien.”

She thinks of the speed and strength with which the woman moved.

“What are you doing?”

Pushing her chair from her desk, Lena stands and paces several feet as she brushes her fingers through her hair.

“What if this is how Lex started?”

She thinks about the intrigue Lex had when she was a child.  _ How much does it take to go from scientific curiosity to obsession? _

Her eyes shift back to the computer before dropping to the box beside it. She bites her lip. With a shake of her head, she leaves the algorithm running on her computer, but hides the box back in her closet. 

**_April 7th, 2006_ **

“You can’t!”

Holly’s shouting voice wakes Kara, who immediately jumps off the couch to look around the empty room. The cloud of sleep instantly fades, and she follows the arguing voices to the back room. The two girls don’t notice her standing in the door was as they continue to argue.

“Holly, I have to. Just stay here.” Selina is wearing her suit, but the hood is hanging at the back of her neck.

“No!” Holly is standing in front of Selina. “Why can’t you just ask  _ him _ for help?”

“That’s not an option, and you know it.” Selina huffs and turns away from Holly. “Bat- Oh.” She finds Kara watching from the doorway. “Kara.”

Holly recovers first. “Kara,” she steps toward Kara, “tell her she has to stay here.”

Kara’s eyes bounce between the two girls. “I -”

“She’s going on a suicide mission.”

With wide eyes, Kara gapes at Selina.

“Stop.” Selina glares at Holly. 

Kara clears her throat. “What’s wrong?”

Selina pulls on her boots. “My sister has been kidnapped.” She inspects the claws on her fingers before looking straight into Kara’s eyes. “I’m going to save her.” 

“Sel -”

“Holly.” Selina turns to Holly. “This is my mess. I’m going to clean it. Stay here.” She pulls on her hood, straightening the cat ears on top of her head. “I’ll be back.”

“And what if you don’t come back?”

Kara steps closer to them. “I can help.”

“No.” Selina looks at Kara.

“We could make an anonymous call to the police.” Holly isn’t able to hide the emotion in her voice.

“Ha!” Selina storms past Holly. “What have the police ever done for us?” 

Kara watches Holly’s head drop as she moves aside for Selina to leave the room. She turns to go after Selina. “Wait.”

Selina whirls on Kara in one swift, graceful movement. “Don’t you get started on me, too.”

Stumbling backward, Kara can only stare at Selina with wide eyes. Selina leaves before she can form a response. When the door slams shut, Kara hears Holly crying. Clenching her jaw, she grabs her hoodie and follows Selina into the night. 

As she follows Selina, she takes note of the quiet grace with which her friend moves when in the black suit. Selina rounds a corner, and Kara counts to ten before following her.

Kara turns the corner and gasps with wide eyes when she comes face to face with Selina, who’s glaring at her with her arms crossed over her chest. She stumbles back, landing on the ground with a huff.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing out here, Kara?” Selina’s voice is a frustrated hiss.

Pushing herself from the ground, Kara stammers out an answer. “I - I - You came out here. I thought I could help.”

Selina stares at her in silence long enough for Kara to begin to fidget.

“Fine.” Selina turns on her heel and begins walking again. “Don’t slow me down.”

Kara lets out an exhale and catches up to her. “Okay.”

In silence, they make their way through back allies and side streets until Selina finally stops them at the end of a loading dock. 

“That’s where they have her.”

“How do you know that?” Kara tries to see through the walls of the warehouse, but something is wrong.

“He told me.”

“Who?”

Selina lets out an annoyed sigh. “Okay. If you’re going to ask questions about everything you see, you can’t come.”

Kara opens her mouth several times before nodding.

“Good.” Selina pats Kara on the head. “Stay by the door, okay? I’m going to send my sister out to you while I keep Stan busy.”

“Who’s St -” Kara stops talking after seeing the look Selina is giving her. She nods briskly.

“Stay behind me and away from any bullets.” Selina misses Kara’s wide eyes and her glance down at her impenetrable body. 

They stay in the shadows as Selina leads them to a side entrance into the warehouse. Listening with her enhanced hearing, Kara silently ensures their safety while Selina carefully pulls open the door just enough for them to sneak inside of the building. With her black suit, she blends perfectly into the shadows as she presses her back against the wall. When Kara slides in next to her, she brings her lips to Kara’s ear.

“Wait here.” Her voice is nearly unrecognizable to Kara. “You hear anything bad, and you leave.” She sneaks down the hallway without waiting for a response from Kara. 

Closing her eyes, Kara listens to the sounds in the building. A few minutes after Selina leaves her view, Kara hears a crashing sound before several gunshots are fired. In a second, she’s pushing open a door in time to see Selina standing from the ground. A man laughs and saunters toward her.

“Stupid girl,” he growls.

With a sneer, Selina rushes toward him and slashes one clawed hand across his chest. He staggers back, but she manages to scratch him a little.

“Little bitch!”

Kara moves to defend Selina, but hears a whimper from the other side of the room. A younger girl in a black dress with a face similar to Selina’s is huddled against the wall with chains holding both her arms. In less than a blink of an eye, Kara takes in her bruises, cuts, and the state of her clothes. She runs to the girl’s side.

Several doors around the room bust open as men with guns enter.

“Kara, what are you doing?” Selina yells just before the first gunshots sound. Before the bullets can reach Selina, Kara is standing in front of Selina. The bullets effortlessly bounce off of her. “No way.” Selina stares at Kara in shock. 

One of the shooters breaks out of his shock first and aims his gun at Kara again, but she is standing in front of him with her hand on the gun before he can squeeze the trigger.

“What the -”

Kara breaks the gun with the slightest flex of her hand, injuring his fingers in the process. She tosses the gun to the side and throws the man against one of the other men. Selina yells in pain, and Kara turns in time to see her friend falling back after being hit by the large man standing over her.

“Kara, get Maggie out of here!”

“You would bring a freak with you.”

Knocking out the last man with a gun, Kara whirls to see the large man pulling a gun from his hip. Selina jumps to the side and aims a kick at his head, but ends up kicking the air.

“What...” Her wide eyes find him on the ground against the wall several feet away from her, holding onto an obviously broken arm. Kara is standing in front of him. “Kara?”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me @CatarinaElibeth on social media, or my web series is @thebechshow and  
> [ we have a youtube up and running. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9j9ojydS1w&t=4s)  
> .
> 
> I'm going to turn this into a novel that I will publish! I'm obviously changing names and circumstances in order to make it my own, but I'm slowly working on that amongst every other project.
> 
> You are amazing and beautiful. Thanks for coming along for this journey <3


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